


Dreaming of You

by imaginentertain



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2013-11-05
Packaged: 2017-12-31 14:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginentertain/pseuds/imaginentertain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt feels very much alone at the moment.  He has yet to discover his Skill (and everyone tell him that's fine, some people don't develop theirs until their 20s) and he has no one he can really talk to.  All he has is the boy he's constructed in his Limbo, a place where no one else can get to him.  So there is no way that boy can be real.  No way at all.</p>
<p>Written for the Klaine Big Bang fest of 2013.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : 

Prologue

 

_From the "Science of Skills" by Dr. Bucks._

**Chapter Two : The History of Skill Development**

The development of Skills is an ongoing process. Throughout recorded history there have been a number of Skills which have manifested themselves, each of them serving a purpose during our evolutionary process, leading to the five Skills observed in today's society. Given the development of Skills throughout recorded history it is impossible to state whether or not further Skills will develop. The only agreed statement is that the Skills are what we need to grow and develop as a world at any given point.

In her research paper published during the 1960s, Dr Anita Boston stated that the development of Skills can be linked to a simple evolution process in our brains, which is hinted at in some of our earliest written records. Just as we have evolved in a physical manner over time, Skills seems to be tied in to our mental evolution. The development of the brain is still largely unknown and many areas of the brain remain unmapped. Dr. Boston quotes that while it is unclear how and why Skills started to develop, they are "instrinsically linked to the development of other skills, such as language and dexterity".

This has, of course, led to much religious controversy, all of which is covered in more detail in the publications _Heavenly Skills_ by Cassandra Pure and _The Religion of Skills_ by Josephine Piquet.

Skills generally manifest themselves during the onset of puberty, establishing themselves over a number of years. Onset can be as early as eleven or twelve, and in some cases the Skill doesn't fully develop to a level of recognition until well into their twenties. Just like biological puberty, this Skill "puberty" varies from person to person. It is unheard of for a Skill not to be present in anyone over the age of 27 at some degree of strength.

It is not unknown for more than one Skill to be present, but in most people one will be more dominant than the other. True strength Dual Skill ability accounts for fewer than one in ten thousand people, however those possessing a second Skill number around one in every five hundred.

The level of strength shown in Skills varies from person to person. There is no genetic relationship between the strength of a Skill, or indeed the Skill itself which develops in a child. All attempts to manipulate Skill development has resulted in complete failure due to the lack of any reliable testing for the Skill present in any individual. It truly is the last random occurrence of our time; we develop the Skill we need to the strength we need.

~~~~

 

**Chapter Four : Skills in the Workplace**

Skills are generally not actively sought-after qualities in the workplace. Many companies chose to omit the question after the World Skills Organisation amended the Employment Act in 1986, making it illegal to hire, fire or discriminate against certain Skill sets. Census results since then, however, show that those with certain Skills tend to gravitate towards specific jobs and career paths.

Those with the Picture Skill, for example, often end up in various forms of law enforcement due to their ability to extract images from a person's mind. This has proven valuable when producing evidence during legal proceedings. Depending on the person's strength of Skill they are able to extract general ideas or concepts, or reproduce specific detail when prompted.

Perhaps the most common Dual Skill combination is that of Picture-Projector. Projectors are able to impart images and information; recent data has shown that this is a Skill set which is decreasing in numbers for those who have it as a Primary Skill. Those still manifesting this skill easily become teachers or educators of some manner but many are staring to question whether our Skill set is about to undergo another Evolutionary Phase – the first since 1952.

Caring professions, such as healthcare providers and social workers tend to have the Emotive skill. Able to sense emotions of those near to them they are able to respond accordingly. Those with the Emotive Skill report that their Skill is more refined when it comes to their close loved ones, or when there is a close link with those in their charge.

Linked to advancements in technology, those showing the Adept skill have increased steadily year on year. Those with this Skill set are not just limited to the fields of science or technology, but also art and music. Their flair and talent, combined with the Skill of being able to learn at a rapid pace, once earned them the title of prodigies and geniuses; monikers still applied to those showing the strongest manifestation of the Skill.

The Skill which continues to be in great demand with high powered businesses, especially in the developing world, is the Reader Skill. The ability to monitor the collective mood and requirements of those around them and to adapt accordingly has helped a number of companies expand and grow exponentially over recent years. Those with this Skill are also used in therapeutic settings, specializing in counselling or psychiatry.

As we continue to evolve as a world and a species, it is expected that our Skills will evolve with us. Therefore this list of Skills is subject to change.

 

~~~~

**Chapter Seven : Coping with Skill evolution**

With this genetic evolution came a development to help us to deal with the added pressure on our brains. The presence of Limbo, a pre-dreaming state, has been studied and reported as a private space where our brains are able to develop and process our Skills. This is a pre-dreaming state in which the person has complete control. Each Limbo is individual and personal on a developing basis, but always has some link to the Skill present in the individual.

The recognition of Limbo has, of course, led to many concerns about the exploitation of us at what is agreed to be our weakest and most vulnerable state. However, any attempt to breach Limbo has resulted in complete failure. Surgeon General Wolf wrote in 1981 that with this evolution of our brains "came an innate ability to protect ourselves". Limbo provides "a customizable state" in which an individual may "explore scenarios and situations of their choice". Any attempt to breach or manipulate this state, while the individual is awake or in their pre-sleep Limbo state, has yielded no promising results.

Control of the Limbo state is so powerful in some individuals, or for others with a great deal of practice, that they are able to determine how long they spend in the Limbo state and when they will enter it. Current medical guidance recommends that individuals spend between 30 minutes and an hour each night in Limbo state to allow their Skill the development and repair that it needs, however this varies from person to person. There have been reports of those who spend fewer than ten minutes each night in Limbo before slipping directly into R.E.M. sleep (a state which is reported to have such strong links to Limbo that it sometimes different to tell them apart), some have spent up to two hours on occasion.

Limbo is not a replacement for sleep, however, and therefore great care must be taken not to spend too long in that state. Injury and illness can result in someone being 'suspended' in Limbo; longer than thirty-six hours can have irreversible consequences for a person's mental state. To help with this a series of sedatives which bypass the Limbo state have been developed and are administered to people if there are concerns about their state of consciousness. General medical practice is that it is better to avoid Limbo, as people are able to do so for up to a month without severe long-term consequences, rather than to 'trap' them in a state from which they may not return.

In the case of Linda X she was in a medically induced coma for nearly five weeks following a serious car accident. When she recovered she reported only a minor decrease in her Skill ability, nothing that would have a significant impact on her life and she was able to continue without any ill effect.

Skills are so ingrained in our genetic makeup that it is seemingly impossible to view them as distinct aspects of our lives. While there has been evidence of brain damage affecting the level of a Skill, due to the number of areas of the brain which are involved in Skill use and development, to have a detrimental effect on all areas results in significant and serious brain damage, often leading to a persistent vegetative state or death. 

While there hasn't been a case of someone not developing a Skill, some Skills are so weak that their existence (and by extension their value) has been questioned. It is therefore the reported existence of Limbo and the abilities shown within that state which have served to prove that everyone has a Skill.

 

~~~~

_From "Know Your Skill" (a favorite leaflet of Ms Pillsbury!)_

As you reach puberty your Skill will begin to make itself known to you. This should be a time for celebration for you, your friends and your family as your Skill will open up many opportunities for you throughout your life.

Your Skill will be as individual as you are so try not to compare yourself to anyone who shows signs of similar Skills. The strength of your Skill does not mean you are better or worse than your peers; Skills are there to help you and therefore will be exactly what you need.

Don't worry if you can't identify your Skill (or Skills) early on - there are reported cases of people not developing their Skills until they are well into their 20s. Lack of an obvious Skill is not cause for worry or the need for any medical intervention; most Skills are low to medium in their development.


	2. Chapter 1

Kurt Hummel has dreams. Lots of them. He dreams of getting out of Ohio, of going to New York and being someone. Someone who is loved by many (he isn't so egotistical as to want a horde of adoring fans, a small group would suit him just fine). He'll be happy to be someone who is liked most of the time, someone who has people they can spend time with. Not that he doesn't have friends, he just doesn't have that one person that he can really talk to.

Kurt Hummel's dreams have dreams of being on stage, of being loved and adored and OK, maybe that dream isn't unique. He dreams of finding that someone, of not being alone anymore. He dreams of a life where he can be who he is and right now the halls of McKinley High aren't that.

Kurt Hummel dreams of a time when he can walk down the hallways of his school and not be afraid of being pushed into lockers or thrown into dumpsters. He dreams of a life when his five minutes of fame on the football team actually made a difference to how people saw him and how people treat him.

(He never could have dreamed of how amazing his father was when he was finally brave enough to be honest with him about who he was.)

Kurt Hummel dreams of finding his place, and being honest with his dad about who he is was the first step towards that. He just needs to figure out what his Skill actually is because even though he knows that most people don't develop their full strength Skill in high school (his own father didn't even know he was a Picture until he had graduated) he knows that being 'undeveloped' or weak just gives them something else to attack him for.

When he turned thirteen Kurt, along with every other thirteen year old, experienced Limbo for the first time. Over the last two years he carved it into somewhere he was safe, protected, set up dreams where he wasn't scared. Dreams that, over time, became exactly what he needed.

Dreams where he wasn't the only one.

~~

This was something that he was trying. A random comment from his dad about not letting fear take over led to Kurt using his Limbo to expose himself to school. He started in his Math classroom, just sitting there and focusing on owning the space, of not letting anything get to him.

It took time to get the space exactly how he wanted it, filling it with the usual faceless people that existed in Limbo. (He'd heard that you could, if you tried hard enough, create non-faceless people in Limbo but he wasn't ready to a) try that, or b) even remotely willing to see any of their faces any more than he had to.)

Kurt dreamt of letterman jackets walking past him, seeing if he could build up a resistance to them somehow. He learned to control his reactions and reflexes, giving no outward signs that would attract their attention. He didn't run – Kurt had never run – but he taught himself to walk past them without subconsciously hugging the bank of lockers or finding the notice board so damn fascinating. When he made them call out their usual repertoire of names – fag, homo, brainless (the favourite one for those whose brains still hadn't made their Skills known) – he said nothing, did nothing.

Confidence began with himself and that started with him not hating school, not hating his classes, and not flinching every time someone with a letterman jacket walked past his chair. So he learned to do just that.

Limbo after Limbo was the same, changing small moments based on how his day had been. After the majority of his sophomore year Kurt had mastered the art of at least giving the impression that they weren't getting to him as much. (Puck and Finn's dual status of football and glee members helped a little with this.)

Rachel had dreams of turning the glee club into a National-winning team which would secure them places on the high school popularity scale. Kurt had more realistic views about what their success would do and he wanted to make sure that when the McKinley High jocks set their sights on him that he didn't give them the satisfaction of a reaction.

 

That afternoon in school Mr Schue had talked about dreams and what they wanted from life. Kurt had given his stock answers of Broadway and New York, but when that same board appeared in his Limbo that night he had a different answer.

"I just want someone who understands what I'm going through," Kurt said as he took his seat. He glanced around, taking in the now-familiar surroundings of his Limbo. "I just... I'm proud to be different; it's the best thing about me. It's just lonely sometimes."

He became aware of someone walking into the room and in practiced fashion he ignored them.

"This is stupid," he muttered, "talking to myself like this—"

"Hi."

Kurt looked up in surprise as the someone came to stand next to him. And he certainly wasn't faceless.

"This seat taken?"

"I— No."

"You OK?"

"I— Just shocked I guess."

"Good shocked?" the boy asked.

"I... I don't—"

"You got a partner for this assignment?"

Kurt looked down at the project folder in front of him, which he'd created as part of the classroom scenario. "I... no. I never do."

"If you want to work alone then—"

"No," Kurt said quickly. "No, I just— no one ever wants to work with me."

"That's a shame," the boy smiled.

"Most people don't think that way."

"I'm not most people."

"I— I'm getting that," Kurt said, his mind trying to process what this was, how it was happening.

"You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm just... tired," Kurt said as he felt the familiar claim of sleep creep into his Limbo.

"Then sleep," the boy said, "and we'll speak later."

Kurt slept.

~~

Burt studied his son as he came down for breakfast. He said nothing, just sat at the end of the table with his coffee as Kurt pulled the milk from the fridge.

"What?" Kurt asked when he realised he was being watched.

"Just— You feelin' OK?"

"Fine."

"You sure?"

Kurt stopped dead in the kitchen, still holding the milk. He raised an eyebrow and studied his father for a moment.

"Just checking."

"Dad, I'm fine."

"School's good? I mean, you're not getting any hassle?"

"No more than usual."

"And glee?"

"Dad, what's going on?" Kurt asked as he finally put the milk back in the fridge.

"Just makin' sure. You just seem... different."

"Different?"

"I dunno, just something."

"What?"

"You know you can talk to me, right? 'bout anything. Even—" Burt trailed off, motioning with his hand in lieu of continuing.

"I know, Dad. And it's fine, really. I'm doing OK."

"So what's new? 'cause something is."

"Well, there is something new."

"I knew it," Burt grinned. "You worked out your Skill?" he asked, the hope in his voice more there for Kurt's sake than his own. When Kurt shook his head Burt thought for a moment. "You back on the football team?"

"Not exactly—"

"What does that mean?"

"It's not official yet, Mercedes and I are going to see Coach Sylvester today, but we were thinking of joining the... Joining the Cheerios."

"Aren't they the cheerleaders?"

"Yeah."

"Can you get—?"

"Gay cheerleaders?"

"I was actually going to say guy cheerleaders."

"Yeah, Coach Sue has some already. I suspect it's so she has people who can actually do some of the lifts but it's a start."

"So what, you going to be into all that... pom pom cheer stuff?"

"Not exactly," Kurt smiled as he took his seat at the other end of the table. "We have a plan."

~~

He was waiting for Kurt this time. "Hi."

"Hi."

"How was your day?"

"Usual," Kurt said.

"Which is?"

"Not good."

"I'm sorry."

"It's over now."

The boy sighed and settled back in his chair. "That's a depressing way to live your life."

"It's a somewhat depressing life," Kurt said. "You'd think so too if you were living it."

"It's easy to think that. That you have it worse than anyone else."

"What are you, my own personal therapist?" Kurt said with a dismissive laugh.

"Talking about things helps."

"So long as you don't expect me to lie down on a couch for this."

"I'm fine just talking if that's what you want."

"I don't know what I want."

"So... what's with the school-based Limbo?" the boy asked. "Last place I'd want to be."

Kurt shrugged. "Exposure therapy I guess. If I can feel like I can control it then the real thing doesn't bother me as much."

"Is it working?"

"...I guess. Dad said it helped him with some stuff when he was a kid. I wouldn't say it's made things perfect but they are better."

"Then I'm glad."

"This is the weirdest thing ever," Kurt said, mostly to himself. "A Limbo therapist."

"Isn't this the place where we get what we need? The whole point of Limbo is that we develop the skills we need, develop our Skill even. This is the place where... Where everything happens because we need it to."

Kurt looked over at the boy sitting next to him and he smiled. "Maybe."

"So. How about somewhere else next time then?"

"What?"

"If school is not good then why keep coming back here?"

"Because..." Kurt started before tailing off. "I need to survive high school. Two more years."

"And we'll get there," the boy said.

"Think so?"

"Yeah."

Kurt smiled and turned in his seat to face him. "Thank you."

"What?"

"Thank you. This is... exactly what I needed."

"You're welcome..." the boy trailed off. "Sorry," he laughed. "I don't..."

"Kurt."

"Blaine."

Kurt slept.

~~

"Finn and Carole are comin' over for dinner tonight," Burt said as Kurt appeared that morning. "If that's OK?"

"It's fine, Dad."

"You sure?"

"It's fine."

"I know Friday nights are kinda our thing but I thought it'd be nice if we expanded them to include—"

"Dad, it's fine."

"OK, come sit," Burt instructed, guiding Kurt to the table. "I thought we'd dealt with this but clearly not."

"Dad, it's fine, really," Kurt insisted. He took his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I'm just tired."

"You not sleepin'?"

"I'm fine, don't stress—"

"Because you need to sleep, kid. Sleep and Limbo are important and if you're not gettin' enough then—"

"Dad, it was one night," Kurt said. "I was up late working on a paper and I was in Limbo just fine. Sleep was just... difficult. Bad dreams."

"Well let me know if it keeps up. I know the meds aren't great but they're there for a reason. I did fine on them after... well, after your mom died, got me through it. So don't think you gotta struggle through. At your age if you're not sleeping then you're not developing right, and I know you're worried enough about your Skill so—"

"I will, but it'll be fine. And so will dinner tonight. You should invite them over, Dad. It'll be... It will be fine."

 

Kurt didn't tell his father it was because he was dreaming of the boy with the brown eyes and the smile that made him feel a little less alone in the world.

This Blaine character might be a construct of his mind, Limbo making manifest the one thing he needs the most, but Kurt couldn't help but get... attached. He'd caught himself thinking of Blaine during the day, wondering what advice he was going to give him (give himself) that night.

And if he was going to keep on feeling this way.

~~ 

"Much better," Blaine said, standing nervously by the edge of the bed. "Better than school at any rate."

"My dad would have a heart attack if this happened," Kurt said. "Me. Having a boy in my bedroom."

"Is he—? I mean, does he know you—?"

"He's fine with me being... me, he's just not ready to have to deal with me having a boyfriend. And certainly not me having one in my room. Which I can't complain about I guess."

"Why not?" Blaine asked.

"Because other kids have it worse."

"Like me," Blaine said. Off Kurt's shocked look he finally sat down on the edge of the bed. "It wasn't _that_ bad. Dad's not about to accompany me to Pride it's just—"

"I— I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Kurt."

"No, but— no one should have to go through that."

"I'm fine."

Kurt couldn't help the smile that crept over his face. Who cared if this was something that only existed in his dreams, at least when he imagined a cute gay guy he did it right.

"So how was dinner?" Blaine asked.

"What?"

"Dinner. You were worried about it?"

"Oh, yeah," Kurt said. Of course his personal therapist knew about that. He knew it so Blaine knew it. "It was... weird. Dad's really into Carole and they seem happy, it's just—"

"Not why you got them together?"

"No."

"How is that crush going?" Blaine asked.

"Died. Dying."

"You'll get there."

"I hope so because I can't deal with this awkward much longer." Kurt sighed and lay back so he was staring up at the ceiling. "I'm happy my dad is happy. I really am. He deserves it and Carole's nice."

"And Finn's straight?"

"And Finn's straight."

"Doesn't stop it hurting though," Blaine said as he laid down next to Kurt. "It's easy to fall for the wrong person because it's easier. There's no chance of anything so we can invest in it. We get to figure out what we want from love, who we want to fall in love with. You're still figuring out who you are—"

"'ain't that the truth," Kurt muttered. "I don't even know my Skill."

"What?"

"I don't know my Skill. Whatever it is it's so weak at the moment that no one can say for certain. Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not a Picture, which means that there's something else my dad and I don't have in common. Carole's an Emotion and I just... don't. That's not me."

"What about an Adept?"

"Maybe. I mean you should see my fashion collection. I have an eye for a bargain and what works. Can you be an Adept in design?"

Blaine laughed softly. "I don't know, ask Alexander McQueen."

"Too soon," Kurt laughed, rolling into Blaine a little. "But I guess. I just... I want to know who I am."

"You are who you want to be," Blaine said. "Isn't that enough?"

"...No," Kurt admitted.

Kurt slept.

~~

And then it stopped.

For weeks Kurt's Limbo returned to the quiet space it had always been but he never went back to the school. For a while he clung to his room as it was before Finn, his space and not theirs. He tried to use Limbo for what it was, a space to develop his Skill. Or, in his case, a chance to find out what his Skill actually was.

Didn't stop him missing Blaine.

~~

This wasn't his room.

This didn't even feel like his Limbo, even though he'd laid down in his bed in his room that night as normal. He'd calmed his mind as he (and every other pre-teen was taught in their Skills classes) and he'd allowed his body to just slip away. He'd felt everything settle and shift, that sense of pre-sleep where you are still in control. He'd felt and then seen his surroundings shimmer around him and then blur into something else, somewhere else. With focus and attention you could make it what you wanted, or you could let your mind drift and allow your subconscious to do the job for you.

He was in Limbo, but he'd not summoned his room. Or any other place that he knew. Which wasn't impossible, he knew that. You weren't limited to the known in Limbo. People could climb Mount Everest or walk on Mars if they wanted to. You could fly like Superman or take a walk across your front lawn with an ant. But that was supposed to come with practice.

Kurt wasn't sure where he was at first but as the cool dark lines settled he knew this was somewhere he could feel safe and welcome and—

"Blaine?"

He was curled up on the bed and the immediate flare of _relief_ and _I missed you_ was replaced with concern and worry and confusion.

"Blaine?"

He was curled up on the bed, back to him and it took a moment before he rolled over to lie on his back. And Kurt's chest flared with _pain_. It took Kurt a few seconds to realise, detach it from himself, and he realised with a start that it wasn't _his_ pain he was feeling. 

"What happened?" he asked, walking over to the bed. "Blaine?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?" Kurt asked. "Blaine..."

"Tonight's the first night without sedatives," Blaine said. "No Limbo on sedatives," he said, as if he were repeating the lines spoken to all of them in those early Skills classes.

_The brain must be active in order for someone to enter Limbo. There are a range of sleeping aids which do not prevent the user from entering Limbo; most prescribed medication will afford you some time there. But many hospital-administered sedations bypasses the Limbo state altogether._

A month with no Limbo wasn't ideal, but it wasn't dangerous either. Sedating someone long-term was only done in extreme cases of illness or injury, times when the needs of the body had to outweigh the needs of the mind.

_All that pain._

"What happened?"

"Kurt—"

Kurt knelt on the edge of the bed and carefully reached out. Every inch of Blaine screamed _tender_ (Kurt could feel the hurt prickling under his skin as if it were his own) so he just rested his hand carefully on Blaine's arm. Somewhere on the edges of his awareness he knew that there was something filtered about this. Like the bruises were worse than what he was seeing.

"Please. Talk to me. You spent weeks listening to me go on about everything and right now I just have a story about Finn in a shower curtain which is nowhere near as important as _what happened to you_?"

"Minor internal bleeding, cracked ribs, bruising. Usual stuff." 

"U-usual?" Kurt stammered, his hand fanning out over Blaine's arm. "Blaine, Blaine please— Tell me they at least got the guy who did this?"

"Guys," Blaine corrected quietly, "and no."

"Why not?"

"Because they won't."

"Blaine, you can't think like that."

"I don't have to think, I know. When the police officer who comes to take your statement asks what you did to provoke them it sets the tone somewhat."

"They did what?" Kurt yelped. "Blaine— This is because you're...?"

"Gay? Yeah. There was a Sadie Hawkins at my school and I went with a friend of mine." Blaine tilted his head a little so he was looking at Kurt. "The only other guy who's out. It was supposed to be a solidarity thing. We were waiting for his dad to pick us up and they just... came from nowhere."

"Blaine— I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"Are you OK?"

"I'll be fine."

"And your friend?"

"He's... He'll be OK. They broke his leg, it'll take some time. His dad is talking about homeschooling for a bit."

"What about you?"

"Mom and Dad are... talking about what they'll do. I don't know what's going to happen."

"I don't... I don't understand how this... why..." Kurt said, half to himself, as he curled up beside Blaine.

_Why would I imagine this? Why would I do this?_

He could feel the sleep pressing in on him, wanting to take him from Limbo. You could control how and when you entered Limbo but they tell you that falling asleep was down to your body. When you'd had enough time in Limbo, when your body was tired, you slept.

Kurt tried to fight it, kept his hand on Blaine's body as if it could centre him, weigh him down somewhat. And for a few never-ending moments it felt as if that were what was happening, as if by wanting to stay with Blaine he could.

Then Blaine shifted beneath him and the physical contact was lost.

And Kurt slept. 

~~

Burt knew something was up when Kurt offered to do extra shifts at the garage and no new items turned up in his closet. So clearly money wasn't the goal here.

"Is this about Regionals?"

Kurt looked up from the engine in confusion. "Is what about Regionals?"

"This... mood you're in."

"I'm not in a mood."

"Yeah you are, I know the signs. You're in one of those thoughtful moods where you're pulling apart whatever situation you're obsessing over. And if it's not over your Regionals loss then what?"

"It's just—" Kurt said, picking up a rag to clean off his hands. "I don't understand something."

"Well, I can't promise to have the answers but I can promise to listen," Burt said.

"It's just— I took your suggestion, about using Limbo to find out who I am. And I ended up creating something that's... I don't know, difficult. I don't know if I'm working through my worries or concerns or whatever but— Is that even possible? To create a situation you're not a part of?"

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Burt laughed.

"I don't know why I created this situation in Limbo and I don't know how to deal with it. I'm supposed to have complete control over them, right?"

"It gets that way, sure. I mean, it takes a bit of practice in the early years because you're still working out how to use your mind the way it's supposed to be used. A buddy of mine, before he knew he was an Emotion, told me he ended up creating a Limbo full of people who would start acting out however he was feeling. Turns out it was his Projection skill kicking in early. He had no idea what was going on, took him a few months to control it so he wasn't goin' around projecting his or anyone else's emotions onto everyone he saw when he was awake.

"Your Limbo is yours, Kurt. What you make in that head of yours is you." 

"So why did I create something where a guy gets gay bashed?" Kurt blurted out. "I've been trying to deal with not being the only one and then I wasn't and he got bashed. I don't know how to deal with that."

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Burt said, and then winced a little at his choice of phrase. "You created a guy... like you... in Limbo and he ended up being bashed?"

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, kid."

"Blaine gave me... someone to talk to. Someone I could talk to about these things. And then all of a sudden this happens to him and I don't know why I would do that. Why would I create something like that?"

"Maybe you're working through your own—?"

"Fears? Insecurities? Dad, me getting... that? Not something I'm really concerned about."

"Maybe not consciously. It happens sometimes, even without you knowing it. You wanna go to New York, right? I know they're pretty gay friendly but there are plenty of people in this world who don't like it, and those idiots are everywhere and when you're there I won't be. Or maybe you read something or heard something about this happening to some kid.

"Or maybe," Burt said carefully, "you are worried about what those jocks will do next." When Kurt looked up at him he just said, "I'm not as clueless as you might think."

"Did you—?" Kurt started, unable to ask the most basic fear of anyone who knows a Picture.

"Not on purpose, I swear," Burt said. "But some days you'd come home and the images would just be screaming out of your head. They taught me how to deal with that stuff, when you're a Picture you need to learn to tune out a lot of images that are just there in people's heads. But when it comes to those you love? Those you're closest to? Kurt, there's no turning this off, just like there's no turning off how you feel.

"I never said anything because I thought you'd tell me if you wanted me to know."

"Thanks," Kurt said quietly.

"You know," Burt then continued, "after we lost your mom I went through all kinds of stuff about whether or not I'd be able to be a good parent. Your aunt Mildred told me to use Limbo same way I told you to use it. Can't tell you all the ways I got things wrong, for one I went through several conversations with a version of you about girls. Just in case," he added with a smile. "Maybe this is something you need to work through. Maybe it's not. But if you don't want to have to deal with it then you don't have to. It's your Limbo, Kurt. No one else gets in there."

"Dad, I know myself. I'm not— I really am not thinking about that. Surviving high school? Yes. Avoiding the jocks? Yes. Getting out of here? Yes. But that? No. And Blaine he's... He's— Dad, I wouldn't do this to him. Even though he's just in here," Kurt said, gesturing towards his own head, "it feels real."

"Limbo does, kid. That's the whole point. But you need to look at this logically. This kid, Blaine? He's something you're using to deal with everything. And there's been a lot of... everything this year. All it takes is for you to read one article or overhear one conversation and the idea sticks.

"Plus you're still working out your Skill. Ask me, I think you're an Adept because of, well, you can strip and engine and put together an outfit on a budget so don't tell me my kid doesn't learn stuff," Burt laughed at his own pride, prompting a smile from Kurt. "Look, your Limbo is your space and you own it. What happens there is yours and just yours. What happens there happens because you make it happen."

"So you're saying... I beat up Blaine?"

"I... don't know how to answer that," Burt laughed. "But I know that if you want to change something then you can. You don't have to deal with this if you don't want to. This Blaine character doesn't have to turn up if you don't want him to."

"You ever have anyone like that?"

"Your mom," Burt said quickly. "Right after I met her I was so scared of screwing things up so I... practiced."

"Really?" Kurt laughed. "That's... something."

"And after she died, it was a way of dealing with it."

"When did you... let her go?"

Burt gave a small huff and smiled. "I'll let you know."

"Still? Now?"

"I still miss her. And I still love her."

"And Carole?"

"I love her too, but you know that. When I was your age I didn't know what Skill I had so Limbo was a place to... figure out who I was. And that's all you're doing."

"With— Blaine."

"If it works for you."

"So you're not worried?"

"It's Limbo, Kurt. It's about as far from reality as we can get."

"So if I did that to him... why do I feel guilty?"

"Because you're you," Burt said. "And I'd not have you any other way."

"So I shouldn't be worried about this?"

"You're sixteen years old. Right now you're just figuring this Limbo stuff out. Just go with it, enjoy it. Trust me it'll work out fine and you'll learn more about yourself along the way."

Kurt pressed his lips together and let his mind run over what his dad had just said. Maybe he should just... let it go?

~~

"I don't understand why this happened," Kurt said. "What happened to you—?"

"It happens," Blaine said, shrugging as best as he could with his injured shoulder. When Kurt had realised the extent of his injuries he had cursed his imagination. He'd not just imagined Blaine being seriously beaten up; this was within inches of his life. "This makes it better though."

Kurt hummed in agreement as Blaine curled up on the bed, not knowing what he could say, what he could do.

"I didn't know if you'd still be here," Blaine said. "When I came back I mean."

That Kurt understood. The fear of rejection, of being alone again. Made manifest in this Limbo character, this "Blaine" he'd dreamt up. His subconscious, no doubt, making him deal with things he'd rather not think about. _Rejection. Abuse. Attacks._

"I held off going into Limbo for a long time because I wasn't sure," Blaine continued. "I didn't want to come here and for you to be gone, like they'd taken that from me along with everything else that they did."

"I don't—" Kurt started in confusion.

"But you were here and it's fine and at least here I'm not on my own. At least here I get to escape from what they did. It's all over Facebook, they're actually _proud_ , Kurt. They are proud of what they did and they said they will do it properly next time. And Mom and Dad, they're trying to deal with it but I know they don't understand, not fully. They made me delete mine, can't say I'll miss it though."

"I'm sorry," Kurt whispered, curling in around Blaine and fighting off the pull of sleep. _Not now, not yet_.

"What for?"

"For this. I will make it better I promise."

"You do," Blaine hummed as he seemed to fall asleep. "This is the best part of my day, being here with you."

"Best part of mine too," Kurt said.

He was so close to Blaine now, a fraction of an inch and their foreheads would be resting against the other's. There was a flare of... something in his chest and almost immediately Blaine's eyes opened.

Of course they would.

"Blaine—"

Whether it was because of Kurt's nerves that he made him do it, or whether it was because dammit, Kurt wanted someone to make that effort for him, Blaine moved first.

Kurt's first kiss was with a construct of his imagination in a Limbo that was slipping into sleep. Someone, somewhere had a twisted sense of irony. Only way he could get a guy was in his own head.

"That's nice," Blaine sighed happily as he shifted back, although not as far as he was before. With each breath Kurt could feel the warm air against his lips.

"I don't know why I did this to you," Kurt whispered, his fingers reaching out to brush Blaine's cheekbones, a place where the hurt seemed so real to him, despite not being able to see it.

_Whilst in Limbo your brain will only register things that it knows. Anything that is unknown - the contents of a book for example - will register as blank pages unless you choose to write it yourself. The color of someone's eyes will be indeterminate until you know in the waking world what they are._

Kurt couldn't imagine the injuries Blaine had sustained and so he could just feel them instead of seeing them. And somehow that was worse.

"I wish I'd never made this up for you," Kurt whispered as he felt sleep crawling over him.

"Made what up?" Blaine asked, his voice heavy and slurring a little with his own sleep. "I'm glad I made you up though."

"What?" Kurt asked, feeling the sleep snap away from him like the covers ripped off on a winter's morning.

"You're my favourite Limbo construct," Blaine continued. "I wish you were real."

Kurt woke.

~~

Kurt stayed up all night, searching online for any explanation of what had happened. Logically he could explain it as his construct being so real that he was imagining he was real, and therefore logically Kurt would be the construct to Blaine. Only the overriding piece of knowledge that Kurt had, that he had carried around like a wound these past few months, was that he was real and Blaine wasn't.

Wasn't he?

Google provided him with limited answers. People reported seeing friends and family and lost loved ones in their Limbo but it was widely agreed that they were just constructs of that person, created by the dreamer in their Limbo for personal reasons. When Kurt tried looking for 'real people actually in my Limbo' he found that there were no results at all, something he'd never come across before. He read every page that the government's Skills website had to offer on Limbo and for a moment he considered sending them an email, asking if they had any advice or information.

For a moment.

The idea that Blaine might be real was a thrilling but also terrifying idea. If he truly were real, if they had somehow managed to share Limbo for whatever reason, then he wasn't alone anymore. Really wasn't alone.

But then how had it happened? How could someone be in someone else's Limbo?

 

"You can't," Rachel said firmly when Kurt asked her the next morning. "Limbo is... I don't know, protected. Even Picture-Projectors can't get in there."

"But how do we know?" Kurt asked.

"Oh please don't go all _X Files_ on me," Rachel sighed. "There is no conspiracy here, Kurt. We are not being lied to. There are too many Emotions in the world and too many Pictures for anything like that. You just need to look at history to tell us that. When was the last major terrorist attack, huh? When was the last significant global combat? Pictures and Emotions count for over half the world's population and it is impossible to mount any kind of campaign without someone who doesn't share your ideals finding out about it."

"But you can protect yourself," Kurt pointed out. "I mean, Tina's a Picture but she never knew that Puck was the father of Quinn's baby because she put up walls. Finn's an Emotion, like Carole, but he never knew what she'd done, never once felt her guilt."

"Maybe she didn't feel guilty."

"You and I both know that's not true," Kurt said. "My point is, we can protect ourselves with enough training. Training we all get when we know what our Skill is. Quinn developed, what? Early Freshman year? She shut us out because she wanted to.

"Fine, we've had no major conflicts but we've hardly been at peace for centuries have we? Incidents can happen, they happen all the time because even though our minds and our Skills mean we are connected in so many ways we still protect ourselves. And we still get to control what we do and who we do it with."

"So you really think this Blaine guy exists?"

"He seems to think so and why would I do that? Why would I make him so real that he thinks he's real."

"Because you're lonely," Rachel said simply. "Because you want—"

"I want something that's real. I do not want a guy who exists only in my head because then that is the worst kind of torture I can imagine and—" He stopped himself and took a deep breath. "I know I'm not that much of a sadist."

"Not intentionally," Rachel said, but her smile belied the potential insult. "Look, I would love for this Blaine guy to be real, for you to... have someone," she added quietly, "but the simple fact remains that if he is in your Limbo then he is only in here," she said, pointing to his head. "Now come on. We're due in the courtyard in ten. New York, here we come!"

Kurt laughed as Rachel got to her feet, holding out her hand to him.

 

Limbo was his. He could control where he was, who was there, what happened.

So there was no more Blaine.

 

Until there was.

~~

It was what Kurt had come to consider as being Blaine's room, a place that was so perfect for him. For almost two weeks he'd been able to focus, keep Blaine from his mind and so out of his Limbo. He'd tried to work on Skills in his own space but showed no signs of anything. Yet.

Then tonight, one passing thought and here he was.

And it was _wrong_. It burned in his skin and crept through his veins in every kind of wrong and a different kind of hurt and pain to the one he'd felt when Blaine was attacked.

(No, not attacked, that never happened, he's not real.)

But it clutched at his heart and stuck in his throat and his mind forgot that this wasn't supposed to be real because in all of his sixteen years of life he had never felt anything so real.

"Blaine?" he heard himself say and the figure on the bed shifted slightly, uncurling so it could look at him.

Kurt tried to focus but it seemed out somehow. He was reminded of his mom, when she tried to read without her glasses. She tried to explain that while she could see that there were words she couldn't see the words. At four years old Kurt had not fully understood how you could see and not see. At sixteen he wanted to see, needed to see.

"Blaine?"

"Time for a last goodbye," Blaine said and Kurt could feel more than see the sad smile on his face. "I did wonder."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked, moving over to the bed, hoping that would help to clear his vision. "Blaine, please."

"Not long to go now."

"Until what?"

"It's OK, it'll be OK."

"I don't understand," Kurt said and even though he couldn't explain it he could feel the panic welling up inside him. As if, somehow, he did understand. "Blaine—"

"One last perfect dream, a perfect Limbo with my perfect dream—"

"I'm not a dream, Blaine and neither are you," Kurt said, finally saying it out loud. "I'm real, I swear it."

"But—" Blaine said and Kurt would swear for the rest of his life that he could feel the confusion that Blaine felt, separate it from what he was feeling himself. "How—?"

"I don't know, I don't know and I don't care how. I just care about you. What's wrong?"

"I just... I can't do this... I _hate it here_ , Kurt. I can't stay, I don't want to stay. They want me gone so... I'm going."

Realisation dawned, cold and hard. "No—"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Blaine chanted as Kurt pulled him closer.

"Just hang on. Your mom or dad, they'll find you and—"

"They're away. Overnight. That's why—"

"Someone? Anyone?"

"I just... Kurt..."

"Tell me. Tell me where you are. Tell me and I will get help. I'll come get you. I'll get help."

"I—" Blaine started and then Kurt all but screamed at the pressure he felt on his ears, his head. When it stopped he gasped for breath, pulling one hand reluctantly from Blaine to press by his ear.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"I— I don't know. It just... I don't know. I don't care. Tell me where you are."

Blaine opened his mouth and then there it was again, the pressure and the discomforting pain.

"No, no, no, no," Kurt repeated, his mind putting the pieces together. "Now is not the time to protect us."

"What?"

"Limbo. It protects us, remember? We can't learn anything in here, we can't tell anything in here that will harm us. We're protected in here," Kurt said, tapping his temple, "and now I know you're real... You can't tell me. You can't tell me anything that would, I don't know, expose you? Put you at risk? And I guess I just found out what happens when you try.

"You're real, I'm real, and so to protect you Limbo won't let you tell me anything that might help me find you. It's protecting you from me and _that is not helping_ ," he ended up yelling into the air in frustration. "You let me in, you hear me? He does not need protecting from me. He will _never_ need protecting from me, just _let me help him_."

The haze was lifting a little, bringing Blaine into sharper focus - something that was both a blessing and a curse. Because for what seemed like the first time Kurt really saw Blaine. Saw the shadows under his eyes. The tired and dull eyes that were nothing like the ones that he'd first seen.

"I don't—" Blaine started.

"It's OK," Kurt soothed, his mind racing. "We'll work it out, I promise. I— Is this your room? Really your room, not some... construct of mine?"

"Yes—"

"Then let me see. You need to let me see."

"I don't understand—"

"You need to fight, hold on. You have to stay with me Blaine and you have to let me see. This is your room, this is your Limbo. Let me see."

And Kurt could feel it. Feel something actually rolling into the room, sweeping up the haze as best as it could. He looked around, searching for something, anything that would give him a clue. The single window looked out into blackness, there was nothing with a name or address on, but he looked all the same.

It wouldn't, it couldn't be anything obvious, his/Blaine's brain would reject it immediately. No mail with an address, no school photos or trophies. There were blank spaces on the wall where pictures obviously were, gaps where Kurt just knew there was something that would have Kurt on Blaine's doorstep within minutes.

All gone, hidden from him. So he looked, burning everything he could see into his mind because somewhere in here was the one thing that was going to save Blaine. He didn't know it outright, but he just knew it was here.

The haze started to creep back in and Kurt turned back to the bed, a request to fight already on his tongue until he saw Blaine and felt the push of sleep.

"No, no you can't sleep, Blaine. Not yet. You need to stay with me. You need to try and wake up."

"I—"

"Blaine, please—"

"Sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, just be here. Just stay with me, Blaine. I'm going to find you, I promise, you just need to stay with me."

Sleep rolled in, pressing harder against Kurt but he fought back, not willing to let it take him. Not now, not yet, not ever. He pushed back with everything that he had, trying to see as much through the haze that he could.

He knew when Blaine finally gave in; sleep pushed hard and in his frustration Kurt pushed back.

Kurt woke.

~~

Burt saw the images before Kurt came downstairs - his son was _screaming_ images of a bedroom somewhere. They weren't fully in focus but they were repeating, on a loop, as if they meant something. As if they meant everything.

When Kurt finally walked through the door he wasn't even trying to stop the tears, just thinking about the same images, over and over again.

"Tell me you have them," Kurt whispered, _begged_ and Burt just nodded. "It's Blaine. He needs help and I need to find him and all I have are those images of his room. I need to know if there's something there, a clue."

"Kurt—"

"Dad, he's real. I don't know how or why but he's real and he needs help and I need you to   
trust me on this. Please, Dad."

"OK," Burt said, taking a deep breath. "Grab me the phone would ya?"

When Kurt returned with it Carole had joined Burt, having felt their combined worry filling the house.

"Come on, sweetheart," she said firmly, putting her hands on Kurt's shoulders and trying to direct him out of the kitchen.

"No, I'm going nowhere—"

"You need to let your dad focus, you know that. And he can't do that when your mind is screaming at him."

"How—?"

"Because I can feel it, I can feel you," she soothed.

"He needs me."

"Kurt—"

"He's real, Carole."

"The boy from your Limbo?"

"He's real."

"Kurt—"

"I don't understand it, I don't know how it happened but it has and he's out there and I don't care if I have to knock on every door in Lima to find him then I will," Kurt said, the words forming on his tongue as the idea came to him. He reached for his car keys but was stopped by Carole's firm on top of his. "Let me go."

"Go where?" she asked gently. "Do you even know if he's in Lima?"

"I—" Kurt started. "I don't know where he is."

"So let your dad try and find something to help you, help Blaine. But you need to help him by calming down. Trust me when I say that you can't focus on anything when you can sense your child is in trouble."

"What if we don't find him? What if—?"

"OK, come on," Carole said, guiding him through to the lounge room where she all but made him sit down.

"I can't lose him, Carole, I just— I can't."

 

By the time Burt came through, phone in his hand, Kurt was asleep, curled up with his head on a cushion in Carole's lap. She was running a hand through his hair as if to soothe him.

"He's exhausted," she said quietly. "And terrified."

"Thank you. For staying with him."

"Of course. So, any news?"

"I swear they thought I was crazy to begin with," Burt said, moving over to sit on the arm of the couch. He put one arm around Carole's shoulders and moved his other hand to rest over hers on Kurt's head. "But..."

"But what?"

"I told him what I'd seen, got him to do a search... Then it went quiet and he thanked me for contacting them. Then he ended the call and that was that."

"Why would he—? You think he found Blaine?"

"I don't know, love. I mean, I know that you shouldn't be able to be in someone else's Limbo but this is real to Kurt and what I saw and what just happened? I don't know anymore."

"So what happens now?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you think Kurt will see Blaine again?"

"I wish I knew. I hope so, if only for his sake."

 

Kurt startled awake and sat up, gasping for breath.

"Steady, kid," Burt said, startling Kurt some more. "You OK?"

"Blaine—"

"We don't know."

"But you called for help? Did they find him?"

"Took a while to get through to the right department," Burt said, "not something that the local P.D. are used to dealing with. I ended up talking to some guy at the Skills Bureau. To be honest I think he wasn't buyin' it but—"

"He did believe you though?"

"I... honestly don't know, Kurt. I gave him the image—"

"Over the phone?"

"Guess he was just that strong. You gotta be to end up at the Bureau."

"And?"

"And he said he'd look into it and that was that. Even if Blaine is real—"

"He is, Dad. I know he is."

"—then they weren't exactly going to tell me all the details over the phone."

"So what do I do? Just wait?"

"All you can do."

"But what if I never see him again? What if—?"

"OK, enough," Burt said firmly. "I'm not going to pretend to understand it, as far as I knew Limbo was protected and there was no way you should have met. But you say he's real and I believe you. If only for the fact that you're too old for imaginary friends.

"Ever since you were a kid you've not been able to keep anything from me, and not just because of my Picture Skill. I know when you're telling the truth and when you're not and you believe you are when it comes to this Blaine guy. I saw him, real as any other image, in your head. That's enough for me, no matter what happens."

"So what do you think? About... me meeting Blaine? In Limbo?"

"I've been thinking about nothin' else since you came downstairs and logically we're looking at one of two things. One, you're developing a brand new Skill, one no one's heard of until now."

"You think this is my Skill?"

"Well, have you developed anything else?"

"No," Kurt said, "I just... I thought I was going to have to wait. That I'd be one of those 'late developers'."

"Maybe," Burt sighed, but his tone betrayed his lack of belief in that.

"What's option two?"

"Two... It's not a new Skill. It's an old one."

"What? Like one that's been around before?"

"You know the rumours, same as me. And I had to look it up, but we've not always had the five Skills we have now. We didn't have these five once, so maybe once upon a time there was something else?"

"So what? I'm a... throw back?"

"I don't know, kid, but as soon as you're ready I think we should go down the local Skills office and see what they have to say about it."

"But what if it is something new? What if they want to, I don't know, run tests on me or dissect my brain?"

Burt gave a short laugh. "Doubt that's how it works, but if they try they'll have me to deal with."

"Dad—"

"I'm serious. We need to figure out what's going on in that head of yours and like it or not, they're the guys to talk to. But tell you one thing," he said with a grin, "from the moment they put you in my arms I knew you'd be anything but... run-of-the-mill."

"Got to make life interesting," Kurt said as he folded up the blanket. "Sorry."

"Don't ever apologise to me for bein' who you are."

"You have enough going on, what with the business and the economy—"

"I'm doing fine, don't you worry. And not being able to help you would stress me out more."

"Thank you."

"Get to bed, get some proper rest. I'll be up in thirty minutes and if you're still in Limbo waiting for him I'll get Carole to sedate you."

"You would," Kurt laughed softly.

"And don't you forget it. Get some sleep, I'll call the school in the morning; think we all need some time to figure this out."

Kurt got to his feet and walked over to his dad, leaning over to give him a small hug. He started for the stairs before stopping. "What if we were too late?" he asked.

"What if we weren't?" Burt replied. "Don't tie yourself up with 'what ifs' OK? I did enough of that after we lost your mom to know that they don't ever do you good. If Blaine is out there, if he is... real? Then I have no doubt that you'll know soon enough."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What if he's not real? What if I've just... made him up?"

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"No," Kurt said firmly.

"Then there you have it. Go to bed."

"Night, Dad."

"Night."

~~

"You're real."

Two words and a voice Kurt had almost given up on hearing again.

"You're really... real."

Kurt sat up and looked across the bedroom of his Limbo at Blaine, now sitting in the chair by his vanity unit. "Hi."

"Mom found me. Well, Mom and two police offers, a couple of EMTs and I think our neighbour. He's a doctor," he added by way of explanation. "Someone called them, said they thought I'd taken an overdose... And you were the only one who knew. I didn't post on Facebook, send emails or texts, nothing. I wrote a letter, which I left on my desk, and I... went to sleep. I was in Limbo, I told you. And then you woke up and—"

"I told my dad, he's a Picture, and he called someone and I have been so worried," Kurt said in a rush, his entire body itching to just go over and hold Blaine.

"How are you real? How is this even possible?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know. Dad's going to take me to the local Skills office to see if we can find out. He reckons this is either a new Skill, or—"

"Or an old one," Blaine finished.

"So... Are you OK?"

Blaine gave a small shrug. "To be determined. Physically, yeah, I'm fine. Mom's sorting out counselling so I can talk through my issues. Mostly I think she's just feeling guilty."

"Guilty?"

"That she didn't notice how bad things were, that she somehow believed that you can be gay bashed and be fine a few weeks later once the bruises had faded and there was no visible evidence of anything ever being wrong."

"Blaine."

"Sorry. Just... Sorry. She's trying. They're both trying."

"I can't imagine what this has been like for them. It's been hell for me and I'm not..."

"Not what?"

"Family."

"No," Blaine said, "you're... more."

"More?"

"I've been thinking about it, since I woke up in the hospital that is. That first time, do you remember?"

"Every moment," Kurt said a little too quickly, blushing when Blaine grinned at him. "You have a point?"

"You thought you'd made me up. Why?"

"Because I was lonely. Because I... Because I wished for it, OK? I wished for someone who would understand me, understand what I was going through, and who would— Who would be there, OK?"

"I think I heard you."

"What?"

"I think I heard you," Blaine repeated. "I remember... I heard, no, I think it was more of a feeling... I don't know what it was, OK? But I knew you were out there and so I—"

"Found me?"

"Found you," Blaine said.

"I'm glad you did," Kurt said, reaching out instinctively. He caught himself, pulling his hand back at the last second. "This is weird, right? This is weird."

"Very weird. But good weird, yeah? Good weird?"

"Good weird."

"So it's weird, but it's good."

"Yeah," Kurt said, "and—" He stopped when he felt Blaine's hand on his. "You're real, I'm real, so... What now?"

"I have no idea. But I do know one thing."

"What's that?"

"I found you in here," Blaine said, tapping his temple with the fingers of his free hand, "so I'm going to find you out there."

"Blaine—"

"I promise. I'm going to find you. I promise."

~~

"So I've been doing some research."

"Hello to you too," Kurt quipped, dropping onto the bed beside Blaine.

"Yes, fine, hi. Research."

"What about it?"

"If you know where to look, and if you have the right kind of access..." Blaine points to the open book in front of him. "Dad. Trying to help I guess."

"I hate to tell you this," Kurt sighed, "but that's blank to me. I don't know what the book says so I can't read it."

"Huh. What if I read it out to you? Told you what was on each page?"

"We can try," Kurt said. He stared at the page as Blaine read out what was presumably the opening paragraph. "Nope," he said, staring at the still-white page. 

"What? How can it be blank? What can this book possibly tell you about me? C'mon, brain, this is not fair."

"I don't know. Maybe it's a limited edition copy that's in a handful of places. Maybe it's a collector's item and traceable. Maybe Limbo is just mean."

"It is pretty old," Blaine said, "and Dad got it from work so..."

"So tell me what it says." Kurt settled against the headboard, ready to listen. "What?" he asked when he noticed Blaine staring at him.

"Make yourself comfortable why don't you?"

"I will, thanks," he grinned.

"No, it's... You do. When we're here you make yourself comfortable and when we're with you I do..."

"Is it weird? Should I stop?"

"No weirder than the rest of this," Blaine said, "and only stop if you want to."

"I... don't. Want to that is."

"Then don't."

"But we have been avoiding this," Kurt said. "If this were real—"

"It is."

"—then we would actually be in the other's bedroom. And that would mean something."

"Only if we wanted it to mean something," Blaine said, his voice quiet but heavy.

Kurt said nothing for a moment, his fingers running over the lines in the bedspread pattern. "And if I did?" he then said. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

"Kurt," Blaine said gently, prompting Kurt to look up and meet his gaze.

Very slowly and deliberately, Blaine moved closer to Kurt. It took a few seconds for Kurt to realise that Blaine was giving him every opportunity to back away, to say no, to reject him or do whatever he needed to do in order to let Blaine know that he didn't want what was clearly about to happen.

Kurt did none of those things.

_Whilst in Limbo your brain will only register things that it knows._

Having never been properly kissed before (he didn't count their half-asleep one a few weeks before, back when he'd not known Blaine was real), Kurt's imagination tried to best illustrate the feel of another pair of lips against his, the feel of them, the taste and texture. The emotions, however, were very real.

"That OK?" Blaine asked.

"I... I'd never been kissed before," Kurt blurted out, before flushing with embarrassment.

"I figured," Blaine said gently.

"Oh god, was I that bad? I never—"

"No, it's not that," Blaine said quickly. "I... felt it. Your nervousness, embarrassment? I don't know what it was but... well, I knew."

"Knew?"

"I think I'm an Emotion. Well, an Emotion too."

"Too? Blaine—"

"Every time I'm with you I get this... sense of something else. A feeling that I know, instinctively, isn't mine. A friend of mine from... school is an Emotion and when I asked him he said that's how it started. He was able to pick up the moods of his girlfriend. And I am starting to pick out your moods, Kurt."

"For how long now?"

"Last few nights mainly. I think it's come on quick because we're spending every night together in Limbo."

"At least you know who you are. I'm still waiting."

"I don't think you are, not really," Blaine said, pulling the (still blank to Kurt) book across to them. "Your dad was right, this is an old Skill."

"What is?"

"They called them Dreamers."

"Why do I suddenly have John Lennon in my head?"

"Hey, maybe he was one? Maybe he was trying to tell us something."

Kurt gave a soft laugh and placed a hand on Blaine's leg. "I don't think there's some great conspiracy, Blaine, not about this. It's too big, and any Picture would be able to—"

"We all know you can protect yourself, we all take the same Skills classes in school. And if what's in this book is right then the people who know about it are at the top of their game."

"Like the Picture Dad spoke to," Kurt said. "I gave Dad the image of your room, some Picture at the Skills Bureau was able to pull it over the phone."

"And save my life. I had my first session today."

"How did it go? I mean, you don't have to tell me—"

"No, it's fine. I mean, it's not. There's a _lot_ of stuff to work through but she's good. I think it's really going to help."

"Good. And you can talk to me, you know that right?"

"I know."

"So tell me what else this book says."

"It mentions Dreamers being around about a hundred years ago. These people, their Skill was... They could enter people's Limbos," Blaine said carefully, meeting Kurt's gaze when it snapped up. "They were actually there, not just created by someone. And people got scared of what they could do."

"What do you mean?"

"Dreamers can control someone else's Limbo, Kurt. They can do things. Change locations or settings or situations. Even though Limbo is supposed to protect us people got scared of what these Dreamers could do. Maybe that's why we developed this insane protection? Maybe that's why I can't tell you my name or where I live or—"

"But you did tell me your name. At the start."

"When neither of us thought the other were real. Because we didn't believe it we could do it. As soon as we thought that the other person was real?"

"I don't get it," Kurt sighed. "I could understand it if I wanted to protect myself, but what if I wanted to give you that information. Tell you my surname at least?"

"It's part of the 'genetic code' of Limbo," Blaine said, his mouth curling up a little at the false reference. "Whatever it is in our heads that gives us our Skills? It gives us this as well. It's wired in there."

"I want a re-wire," Kurt muttered. "So what happened to the Dreamers? And why don't we hear about them today?"

"They reckon those that weren't... killed," Blaine said quietly, "went into hiding to protect themselves and their families, and there's been no official mention of Dreamers since the early 1800s. The Great Skills War we never knew about."

"So what do we do?" Kurt asked. "Go into hiding like the rest of them?"

"It's not hiding in basements for the rest of our lives," Blaine laughed, "it's just about—"

"Hiding behind other skills?" Kurt finished. "That's easy for you, you're an Emotion. What am I? So far this," he gestured to the room, "is all I've ever been able to do."

"It's going to be fine, Kurt. I promise."

"I hope so."


	3. Chapter 2

"You look exhausted," Carole said. She put her hand on Kurt's shoulder, frowning when he didn't move. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Before," Kurt said dully, not even bothering to look over. His gaze remained fixed on the impossible white of the bed linen and his father's limp hand. It seemed weird, how pale that hand was. Wrong for a mechanic. 

"You need rest. And Limbo," Carole said firmly.

"He needs me."

"He needs you strong and rested and not falling apart."

"Carole—"

"Go. Get some rest. Limbo at least."

"Later."

"Kurt—"

"I promise, I'll do it later. That way I can..."

"See Blaine?" Carole finished.

Kurt nodded. "We have a time frame when we know the other will be there. It's been days," he realised, "Blaine'll be wondering where I am. But I can't leave Dad. I just... I can't."

"Your dad will be fine. He's tough, tougher than anyone else I know. And he'll come through this."

"You can't know that," Kurt whispered. "You said yourself, it's bad. Although show me a good heart attack," he quipped dryly. "The longer he's unconscious the worse it gets, and all anyone can do is tell me to wait or pray to some god who isn't there."

"They mean well—"

"I just can't deal with it right now," Kurt said, getting up from the chair and stretching out his limbs before starting for the door.

"Oh, by the way," Carole called after him. "There was a message on your home machine, from the Skills Bureau I think?"

"We were... Dad was going to take me, talk about this Limbo thing. It's not important. Not right now."

"If there's anything I can do..." Carole started, but Kurt walked away from her without giving any indication he'd heard her. "What are we going to do with him?" she asked Burt's unconscious form. "He is so... lost. I can feel it. I don't know what's going on with this Blaine character, or if he's really real, but Kurt needs him to be. I hope he is, I know you have your reservations about him having a guy in his head," she laughed softly. 

"What if they never find each other?" she asked, her fingers gently brushing across Burt's brow. "Although knowing you, even if you have to knock on every door in the State, you'll track him down. So how about you get on with getting better, waking up, and then we can go and find him?"

~~

As soon as Blaine arrived he felt like he was being knocked over with the intensity of Kurt's emotions. He said nothing, just pulled Kurt into his arms and held on in a promise to not let go until Kurt was ready.

"Dad's sick," Kurt mumbled into Blaine's shoulder. "He's in the hospital and they don't know if..."

"What can I do? Tell me what I can do."

"I don't know. I need you."

"I'm here."

"No, I need you. I need you to find me."

"I'm guessing you can't tell me what hospital your dad is in? Or what he's in for?"

"I want to tell you, I need to tell you. I don't need protecting, not from you, and I hate that my brain won't let me. I should be able to control this."

"I wish it worked like that," Blaine said.

"I can't stay. I said I'd do Limbo... to tell you, because the doctors have said that if I get sick then they'll ban me from seeing Dad."

"They're right, you need breaks," Blaine said firmly. "Regular breaks. You know, go outside, get some fresh air?"

"What?" Kurt asked, pulling back.

One of Blaine's hands found its way to Kurt's wrist, circling a pattern on the back of it. When Kurt looked at Blaine he nodded, just once, to show his understanding. Blaine then tapped four times around the circle before repeating it.

"Go outside. Main entrance. Take a walk," Blaine said. "Who knows what you'll find."

Kurt pulled Blaine in for a kiss, hard and fast, before resting their foreheads together. "Thank you."

"I'll see you soon," Blaine whispered. "I promise. I'll find you."

~~

"You got ants in your pants or something?" Burt asked as Kurt walked back into the room.

"What?"

"That's the third time this hour you've gone for 'some air'. Not that I'm really complaining, from what I've heard you were pretty much attached to my bedside for a while there."

"No, it's... Can I tell you something?"

"Always."

"It's Blaine."

Burt would have sat up if he'd been able to. "Is he here?"

"No, but he knows you're in the hospital and it's the best lead we've had to finding each other since this thing started. I go outside every fifteen minutes and wait for him."

"Kurt, do you have any idea how many hospitals there are in Allen County?"

"Dad, please. I don't think he cares if he ends up going to all the hospitals in Ohio. We need to do this. I need to see him. Properly."

"I know you do, but if he was anywhere nearby don't you think he'd have gotten here by now?"

"Depends if he can get here. He might be caught up with school or counselling sessions or just other stuff. But I'll go out, every fifteen minutes, until he turns up."

"Kurt—"

"I know you're trying to protect me and I know that it might not work, but you have to let us try."

"I don't think he's local, kid."

"What? Why not?"

"Because Carole looked into kids admitted for ODs when Blaine had his... thing. And she didn't find anyone."

"That doesn't mean anything. What if they'd gone private? Or they'd just not told her when she asked for confidentiality? He's real, Dad, and he's out there—"

"Kurt, listen to me. I believe you, I really do. But we have no idea the scale of this thing. Family aside I can only pick up images when someone's in the room with me, that guy from the Bureau pulled it over the phone. Who knows how strong this thing is between you? You gotta be prepared for the fact that he might not find you purely because he's looking in the wrong place."

~~

Blaine looked thoroughly miserable when Kurt arrived, and his mood was only confirmed when Kurt realised he could _feel_ it. It hung in the air like something tangible, something Kurt could reach out and hold, touch and feel for himself. It was so strong that it took Kurt a moment to separate it from his own feelings, to realise that it wasn't his own emotion he was feeling.

"I know you tried," Kurt said quietly as he knelt in front of Blaine, trying to catch his eye. "Dad has a theory."

"I'm not near you," Blaine said. "I went two counties out, gave Mom a minor heart attack in doing so, but nothing. I tried calling a few of the further ones, most wouldn't tell me but a couple would at least tell me that my 'Uncle Burt' wasn't there."

"Uncle Burt?" Kurt couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I had a whole sob story about how my mom and him didn't speak anymore and I'd heard he was sick. I didn't know what Mom's surname was before she married so I was just asking for Uncle Burt. Few nurses took pity on me and checked, but nothing."

"So," Kurt said quietly as he processed all of this. "I guess this must be pretty strong then?"

"What?"

"You heard me, Blaine. You heard me wish I had someone else and I'm starting to think that we're not in the same state."

"How powerful is this Skill?" Blaine whispered.

"Powerful enough to find me," Kurt replied. "Powerful enough that I can feel exactly what you're feeling as though it was my own emotion."

"I've felt that too," Blaine said, "when your dad was sick."

"He's doing well, by the way. Home now, complaining about us all running around after him but I know deep down he not only enjoys it but he knows he needs it."

"I'm glad."

"Thank you."

"For what? I did nothing."

"No, you did. You were here for me in Limbo and I knew that were trying to find me."

"I'm sorry I couldn't."

"You tried."

"It's not enough."

"Yes it is," Kurt said, kneeling up so he was a little more level with Blaine. "It's everything."

The mood in the air shifted into something warmer, solid in a comforting way. It wrapped around the two of them, Kurt smiling as he felt Blaine's emotions surround them and he wished he could return the favour and make Blaine feel how he did.

All he had was a kiss.

~~

It wasn't until the final bell of the day had rung that Kurt realised Mercedes had been his personal shadow all day. Her walking him out to his car, even though hers was in the other direction, only confirmed it.

"What?" he asked.

"That was gonna be my opener," she said. "You're hiding something."

"Stay out of my head," Kurt said, a little harsher than he'd planned. "Sorry," he added when he noticed her recoil a little. "Sorry, I just... I'm worried about Dad."

"I know you are," Mercedes began, linking her arm with Kurt's, "but there's something else. I'm not invading, I promise. I'm just in tune with you, Kurt. I know there's something."

"I hate Emotions," Kurt muttered.

"Yeah, well this one loves you and just wants you to be OK. I know things have been rough so if you need someone to talk to then-- _what was that_?" she exclaimed, almost pushing away from Kurt.

"What?"

"When I said about needing someone there was this... wave, I don't know? Whatever it was you just felt was _powerful_ , Kurt."

He couldn't help but smile at that, and ducked his head to try and hide it but Mercedes was already on him.

" _Kurt_!" she exclaimed. "Oh, please tell me this means what it feels like."

"Maybe, I don't know," Kurt admitted. "You can't tell anyone. Please. It's bad enough when I keep a low profile, but if it gets out—"

Mercedes mimed turning a key against her mouth.

"Then yes. Maybe. I don't know. It's early and complicated and we need to figure out a few things... But yes. There's someone."

"Do I at least get a name?" she asked.

"Blaine."

"Well I want to be first to meet him, you understand?"

"I don't know—"

"Nope, no excuses."

"Fine," Kurt sighed, "if I can then you will the first to meet him."

Mercedes' brow creased in confusion but she let it go. "So you got plans for the weekend?"

"Just that Spanish project Mr Schue gave me an extension on. I... dammit," Kurt said. "I've left my notes in my locker and you need to get to your car."

"Fine I'll let you off this time. But I want details and I want them soon."

"Goodbye, Mercedes!" Kurt called as he turned back towards the school.

The corridors were deserted; students having fled at the earliest opportunity for the weekend. Quickly he grabbed his work from his locker and turned to leave, his heart sinking as he saw the familiar shape looming at the end of the corridor.

~~

Blaine waited in Limbo, trying to control his nerves so they weren't filling up the room like molasses. He knew that Kurt would sense it the minute he arrived but he could spare him the worst of it, try and hide the sheer _panic_ that was threatening to build up in him until he was just consumed.

He'd never expected this when his parents had first suggested a change of schools. Homeschooling was never intended to be anything but a stop-gap measure and they had, apparently, been considering their options.

And never once thought to involve him in the discussions.

When it was presented to Blaine that evening over dinner, a _fait accompli_ , he'd sat and stared at the glossy school brochure in disbelief. Private school. Boarding. Zero tolerance policy. Possible other gay kids there. He'd listened to them as they talked about the way they'd juggled finances and commitments and he could start there in a couple of weeks. They seemed so proud of themselves that his next comment was like a kick in the teeth.

_I don't want to go away to school._

Once upon a time the idea of being somewhere else might have appealed but if he was   
locked away in some school then how would he ever meet Kurt? How would he be able to find the one person that was becoming more and more important to him with every passing night?

How could he explain that to his parents?

Blaine knew that he would never be able to fully explain to them that the boy in his dreams was real and out there and he was the one who'd raised the alarm and saved his life. His mom hadn't cared about who called for help and Blaine knew that she assumed her son had made one final comment or goodbye to someone.

Which, technically, he had.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused, trying to pick Kurt out. That first night he'd heard him, so loud and clear. He'd been drawn to the voice, the presence he'd felt, and hadn't been able to leave since. There was a link between them that Blaine couldn't explain; the best he was able to offer was that his Emotion skill was linked in with Kurt and therefore when you combined it with... whatever this new Skill was he was able to sense him.

It took a while before Blaine felt the prickles of familiarity, but it felt off somehow. That in   
itself was also familiar; by the time Kurt appeared in his room Blaine knew something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

"Kurt—"

"I don't want to talk about it," Kurt replied. "Not yet."

"OK. But tell me this though. Is it your dad?"

"What? No. No, he's fine. Doing really well. Which is part of the reason I don't want to talk about this. His heart—"

"OK, we won't talk about it," Blaine heard himself say, but every Emotion sense that he had was _screaming_ at him that this was wrong, that Kurt was full of pain and anger and frustration and everything else that came with wrong. "Want a hug?"

"More than you know," Kurt breathed and Blaine tried not to laugh; he'd sensed it right along with every level of wrong he'd ever known. "Thank you," he muttered when he felt Blaine's arms around him. "Sorry I'm late."

"You say that like I know what time it is and how long I've been here," Blaine replied, "but I will always wait for you."

"Thank you."

For a while they stood there, doing nothing but holding on to each other, until Blaine felt Kurt move away from him.

"He kissed me," Kurt then said, without introduction or warning.

"Who?"

"One of the jocks who's been... y'know. I guess it explains a lot? I don't know. But I'd gone back into school for some work I'd left in my locker and he was there and—"

"OK," Blaine cut across, feeling the air around them become palpable with Kurt's rising emotions. "You don't have to."

"How bad is it?"

"What?"

"I know you can feel it. My step-mom knew something was wrong as soon as I got home."

"It's... not good."

"What does it feel like? Actually feeling someone's emotions?"

Blaine let out a deep breath and he gestured they should sit on the bed. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before starting. "You know how when you watch a sad movie you always end up crying? It starts like that. You'll be near someone and they're having a bad day and suddenly it's near the end of _Beauty and the Beast_ and Belle's confessing her love and you just want to cry. At first, before the training, it's like you're feeling it yourself. You are, I guess, because you can't separate the emotions you're feeling from your own."

"But you can with training?" Kurt asked. "So what's it like now?"

"Like... fire. Or ice. Like something you feel on your skin rather than in your body. I don't know how to describe it but when I'm with you? I feel what you're feeling like it's something I can actually touch. The training, it's all about distancing yourself – setting up a block they call it, between what I'm feeling and what you're feeling. And over time you learn to recognise how an emotion feels."

"So some are hot, some are cold, that kind of thing?"

"They are for me. Everyone's different in their own way. For some people anger feels heavy, for others – like me – it burns. Fear is cold, love is..."

He stopped when he realised what he was about to talk about, and what that might mean.

"Anyway, you just know. And with the block you can stop yourself bursting into tears just because you walked past someone who got bad news."

"My step-mom, she says she can sense me anywhere in the house."

"Yeah, there's something about those we're closest to emotionally. The block doesn't quite work with them. The guy at the Bureau said that they're already past the block or something? One thing I realised during my lessons there was that there's so much about these Skills we don't know."

"I wouldn't know that," Kurt sighed. "This is all I have-" he gestured around the room "-and I don't know what they'd say about it. Well I do. It's 'just Limbo'," he said, miming the air quotes. "After... what happened with you, Dad and I finally got to the Bureau to talk about it."

"And?"

"And usual stuff. Limbo is private, protected, only five known Skills... Dad asked about unknown Skills and, I kid you not, the guy on the desk actually said 'I don't know about those'. I nearly cracked up there and then."

"So they were no help?"

"Not really."

"I wish I could say something to explain this."

"Does it need explaining?" Kurt asked. "You're here, I'm here, and... well... I'm happy."

"Really?"

"OK, if an Emotion has to ask—"

"No, it's just... This is Limbo. You can make it how you want it."

"This is _your_ Limbo," Kurt pointed out.

"Yeah, but you have an effect on it."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. It's just... the room is different when you're here. Things I have set out move or change and I know it's because you're doing it. Like the books on the shelf are not in alphabetical order in my room, my actual room, but when you're here in this version? They are. And that's you."

"Well it makes sense, because then you know where everything is," Kurt said.

"You change things around me, Kurt. You... move me sometimes."

"What?"

"You pull me into your Limbo some nights."

"I do that?"

"Whatever this is? You're better at it than I am. Stronger too."

"Great. So I'm the kid with one good Skill, assuming this is a Skill, and I'm going to be a freak."

"You are not a freak," Blaine reassured him, pulling Kurt into his arms and down onto the bed so they were lying side by side. "You are not a freak."

"Come to my school and tell me that."

"Sure. Just give me the address," Blaine laughed. He smiled when Kurt laughed too and they settled in together for the time they had until sleep.

He could tell Kurt about it later.

 

"You're hiding something."

Later came several nights later, when it was just another night and just another Limbo. Kurt appeared, seemed to study Blaine for a moment, then he made his declaration. And Blaine couldn't hold back anymore.

"We're moving."

"OK."

"Interstate."

"OK."

"Tomorrow."

"OK."

"Is that all you have to say?" Blaine asked.

"I'm still waiting for the news that will affect us."

"Kurt—"

"We already know we're not in the same state, I don't know why you moving—"

"Because what if there is a distance limit? What if I move too far away? What if..." He trailed off and looked at the hands clasped in his lap. "What if none of this was real?"

That seemed to throw Kurt for a moment as Blaine felt the creep of confusion against his skin. Absent-mindedly he tried to brush it away.

"This is our last night together."

"You don't know that," Kurt challenged. "We could be fine."

"No, it has to be. I have to stop this, Kurt. I can't keep... retreating into Limbo when things go wrong just to talk to someone who... who is probably just in my head."

"We've been over this. You're real, I'm real. You only told me about what you'd done and I told Dad and he—"

"Someone else might have known," Blaine said quietly. "When I told people I was going, when I said my goodbyes? One of them... he said something that made me think he might have known."

"Blaine—"

"It's a simple fact, Kurt, that Limbo is supposed to be protected. No one is supposed to be able to get in here so by that logic... You're just what I need you to be. Which included you... saving me."

"But I know I'm real," Kurt said. "Just as I know you are. I never wanted anyone to save me, I didn't ask for you—"

"You know it doesn't work like that."

"Just wait. This time next week we'll be here again and this time we'll figure out a way to find each other. There has to be something; an advert we can place or a website. I'll hire someone if I have to."

"Kurt—"

"Why are you giving up on us?" Kurt managed to choke out.

"Because I have to. Because I can't stand you just being in my head and if I can't have you for real then I can't have you at all."

"That makes no sense—" Kurt began, but he was silenced when he saw Blaine's face. "Please," he whispered.

"There are two explanations here. One, I made you up to deal with everything that was going on in my old school. I'm not there anymore, and now we're moving..."

"Why do you have to move? Why do things have to change that much?"

"The other option was private school," Blaine explained, "but I didn't want that. Talking with you, knowing what you're going through? You've never run, not once, even though no one would blame you if you did. And I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to run, Kurt. So because I refused to go to private school we're... we're moving. Somewhere new. Dad knows someone and he's got a new job and I'll have a new school where no one knows anything."

"That counts as running," Kurt replied dully. 

"To begin with, I mean," Blaine replied. "It's a fresh start and it needs to be a complete fresh start."

"Which means letting me go?"

"I'm sorry."

"If you made me up then why would you hurt me like this?"

"Because it's hurting me," Blaine said. "The other explanation is that you made me up and that case the fact that I'm sitting here, telling you this means that you know I'm right."

"Or you're real and I'm real and—"

"All we have are whispers and rumours and you want me to put everything on hold for that?" Blaine asked. "I can't live my life inside my head, Kurt. I can't live in Limbo; people get stuck and they die that way. They literally die."

"I'm not asking you to stay in here with me forever," Kurt snapped.

"This is what I need to do," Blaine repeated. "This is what we need to do."

"Doesn't make it any easier to hear."

"Or do."

"Then please don't do it. Let's just see what happens."

"I can't, Kurt. I need to do this."

"Says who?" Kurt asked on instinct, and immediately he felt as if there was a wall in front of him, something real and tangible that he could feel but not see. "What is that?"

"What's what?"

"I asked you a question and this... You're hiding something," he realised. "Is this... is someone making you do this?"

"No one is making me do anything, Kurt."

"You're hiding something, though. You're..." He stopped and allowed his eyes to drift, feeling around the constructed room in his mind. "You're keeping me out," he realised. "All this time and you've not once kept me out."

"Doesn't that show you something then? That I want this? Or you do, depending on how you look at it?"

"Blaine," Kurt said forcefully and with it he felt a strong push towards Blaine. "Don't shut me out."

"You're pushing," Blaine said, more in wonder than annoyance. "Kurt—"

"You owe me the truth, Blaine. After everything, even if it wasn't real—"

"If I keep you with me then I'll waste my whole life chasing something I can't have," Blaine choked out, and Kurt felt the wall between them soften a little. "It won't matter if you're real or not, I'll never be able to see you or hold you or kiss you properly. You'll never be able to be with me or do anything with me. I don't want that, Kurt. I don't want to... keep dreaming."

"I don't want to lose you."

Blaine took Kurt's hands in his and squeezed them gently. "You never really had me in the first place."

"But it feels like I do."

"I know."

"And you want me to say goodbye?"

"I need you to."

"Blaine—"

"Please. For me?"

Kurt wanted to push, to fight, to make Blaine stay with him. But he knew that at some point they would sleep, or wake, and that could be the end of it. So to spend this time arguing would be a waste.

"Stay," Kurt whispered.

"I—"

"Tonight. Stay with me, here, as long as you can. I'll, we'll fight off sleep and we can just... stay."

"Kurt—"

"Either I'm real and this is what I want so as my construct you should give it to me," Kurt said quickly, "or you're real and as your construct I'm just saying what you're thinking and feeling. Either way you should stay."

"One last night?"

"As long as we can have."

So they lay, side by side on the bed, and they talked and whispered and kissed and held each other. Whenever Kurt felt the warm wave of sleep pushing in he pushed back as hard as he could, feeling it roll away from them.

"Just call me Canute of Limbo," he laughed as he found each push easier to do.

"What?"

"Never mind. I—" Kurt stilled and seemed to glance over his shoulder as if someone were there.

"What is it?"

"I think someone's in my room. Probably just... stay here? Please? Don't sleep, don't go anywhere. I'll be back as quick as I can."

"I'll stay," Blaine promised, sighing gently as Kurt seemed to fade from view and touch. He waited for what could only have been a few minutes at most before Kurt returned, now standing at the foot of the bed, looking a mixture of awkward and proud.

"It's morning," Kurt said. "That was... I was being woken for school."

"It can't be," Blaine said in surprise, sitting up. "We... all night?"

"Apparently."

"Isn't that a bad thing?"

"They talk about people getting stuck in Limbo, but we're not stuck. Well, I'm not and it doesn't feel like you are."

"So..." Blaine said, getting to his feet and standing in front of Kurt. "I guess—"

"Don't say it," Kurt commanded. "I don't care what you think or why this is happening. I don't... I can't say goodbye to you."

"So what do we say?"

"Nothing," Kurt replied, and he leant forward to kiss Blaine. Just once, just simply, before he felt Limbo fade from around him and he woke.

~~

"I've called this emergency meeting of the glee club to address a serious issue," Rachel declared, looking around those who'd assembled.

"What did Finn do now?" Santana asked. "I assume by his absence that this is yet another instalment of the ever-thrilling melodrama that is your love life?"

"This isn't about Finn, it's about Kurt," she replied. "I'm worried about him. This last week he's been quiet and not at all energetic and—"

"So?"

"He also turned down the three solos I offered him," Rachel declared.

"Maybe Hummel doesn't like pity," Santana replied, "I know I wouldn't."

"I'm telling you, something is wrong. We all know about the hassle he gets from some of the football players and yet up to now we have done very little about it."

"So are we your vigilante group now?"

"What's a vigilante?" Brittany asked. "I don't think I've been one for years—"

"Not that," Tina said quickly. "Do you want one of us to talk to him?" she then asked Rachel. "Find out what's going on?"

"Finn's already tried, Kurt just shrugs it off," Rachel said.

"If you get me a name I can sort it," Puck declared. "I still got friends on the team."

"If you ask me," Rachel began, ignoring Santana's mutter of 'no one did', "I think he's lonely. I think Kurt needs someone he can... connect with."

"Isn't that what we're here for?" Sam asked.

"I'm talking about getting him a boyfriend." The smile on Rachel's face betrayed how proud she was of herself, a sentiment not shared by the others.

"Sure," Puck quipped, "I'll just go out and round up all the gay dudes walking the halls of McKinley. We'll have them all battering down Kurt's door in no time."

"Puck, heaven help us, is right," Quinn said, speaking up for the first time. "We know statistically that Kurt's not going to be the only gay boy at this school, but he is the only one who's openly out. And no offense, but I'm not putting any kind of faith in your gaydar if you think you've found someone."

"And if you expect me to out someone—" Santana began, half out of her seat before Brittany   
put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No way."

"No gaydar or outing needed, I have someone in mind," Rachel grinned.

"And you're sure he's gay?" Sam asked. "Like, a hundred percent?"

"Heard him talk about it myself," Rachel said. "And I have a plan."

She ignored the collective sighs and groans as she proceeded to outline her plan, knowing that if they weren't on her side they'd have left by now.

 

Kurt arrived early for practice and dropped his bag by his chair. He waited for the halls to fill with people before venturing out to his locker. Under cover of the masses he was able to get what he needed without interference. Right up until he closed his locker door.

"Rachel, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"I have some amazing news," she grinned, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. "We have someone new joining glee club. And he's pretty cute."

"Oh good, more competition," Kurt droned.

"It's not like that."

"It must be if you're excited."

"Come on, he's in the choir room."

"What gives?" Kurt asked, not moving.

"I don't know what you mean—"

"He's good, yeah? So you're thinking lead for Sectionals, I can see it. Which means you won't be singing with Finn and—have you two broken up again?"

"Will you just come to the choir room?" she asked, linking her arm with his.

Kurt was about to object until he saw an unwelcome group of letterman jackets at the end of the hallway. Noting that the crowd had thinned out he allowed himself to be dragged back to the choir room, tuning out Rachel's excited babble about this new find.

They stopped just short of the door as the glee club filed out, chatting amongst themselves.

"What--?" Rachel started.

"Auditorium's free," Mercedes said. "Mr Schue said it would be a better audition space."

"What's wrong with the intimacy of the choir room?" Rachel asked in panic. "I really think—"

"Let it go, Rachel," Mercedes called out as they walked away from them.

"Come on, Kurt," Rachel said, pulling on his arm.

"I need my bag," he said, pulling free and walking into the choir room before she could stop him.

"And this is Kurt Hummel, our rare and talented countertenor," Mr Schue introduced. "Kurt, this is Blaine Anderson, he's just started at McKinley and will be joining us in glee."

Kurt didn't hear a word.

Neither did Blaine.

"My... bag," Kurt managed to say, gesturing to the seats where he'd left it.

"Well, I'd best get after the others. Blaine?" Mr Schue began, missing the fact that Kurt and Blaine were staring at each other and had barely moved.

"I—I'll take him. Show him, I mean. The way," Kurt stammered.

"Thanks, see you there," Mr Schue said with his trademark over-the-top enthusiasm before leaving.

They continued to stare at each other, saying nothing for another minute.

"You're here," Kurt finally said. "And real."

"So are you."

"Always was," he quipped. "Sorry, this is not... I pictured this slightly differently."

"You and me both," Blaine said, inching forward. He stopped only when he saw Kurt inch backwards. "Yes, right, sorry. You told me—"

"Later," Kurt confirmed. "We could grab coffee?"

"Yeah. Yes. Good. Great."

Kurt laughed and quickly grabbed his bag. After shouldering it he held onto the strap just to give his hands something to do. "There's a place not far from here, does a decent Medium Drip."

"And a good non-fat mocha I assume?"

"You know my coffee order?"

"You know mine."

"Yeah. And a lot more," Kurt said. "Come on, we don't want to keep Rachel waiting."

"Brunette, petite, far too excited to see me?" Blaine asked as he followed Kurt out into the corridor.

"Yeah, that's her. She was... oh no," he groaned.

"What?"

"She was excited to tell me about our new member, you, for some reason... Does she know you're gay?"

Blaine gave a bark of a laugh and, glancing down, shook his head. "I wondered why she   
was so... interested in my love life history. I thought she was hitting on me, I hinted she wasn't my type and she just smiled. I thought it was weird but she knew, didn't she? What I meant?"

"I think we were being set up."

"Would she--?"

"Yes," Kurt said quickly.

"So, what would she say if she knew?"

"I don't know and you can't say anything. Please. Not yet, not—"

"OK," Blaine said, reaching out with a hand to touch Kurt's wrist.

It was the first physical, real contact between them and it seemed to send electric shocks up both of their arms, causing them to both take a half step backwards. Standing almost two metres apart, in the hall just outside the auditorium, they stared at each other.

"I promised you a kiss," Blaine whispered.

"Then let's get this audition over with and we can go. For coffee."

"Coffee."

Saying nothing more and trying to not only hide their grins but also fighting the urge to grasp hands, they walked into the auditorium to find everyone waiting for them. Blaine joined Mr Schue on stage while Rachel pulled Kurt into a reserved seat, one which co-incidentally had the best view of the stage.

"So... what do you think of him?" she asked.

"What?" Kurt asked, feigning ignorance.

"Blaine!" she hissed. "I checked. He's gay."

"Oh, you checked did you?"

"Look, all I'm saying is that he's cute, he's new, you should... take him out for coffee or something."

"Should I now?"

"Kurt!"

"I don't need setting up, I don't need anyone interfering in my love life or my life in general for that matter."

"I'm only doing it because I care."

"I know," Kurt said. "And I love you for it, I do."

"So... take him out for coffee?"

"Hush, he's about to perform," Kurt said, noticing Blaine sitting in front of the piano. He watched in honest surprise as Blaine's fingers [moved expertly across the keys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr9SOe4XuOw) and he sang, seemingly without effort and yet full of emotion, a song Kurt knew was just for him.

_Whenever I want you  
All I have to do  
Is dream_

By the end of the song everyone was on their feet, some wiping away tears they were pretending not to cry, but Kurt could think was that this was what it was like to be an Emotion; to feel so much love just being poured in his direction.

Coffee couldn't come soon enough.

 

Kurt must have checked his rear view mirror every three seconds, just to make sure that Blaine was still following him, still there, still real. His mind was racing almost as much as his heart, trying to process everything that had happened. He felt that at any given moment a film crew and Ashton Kutcher was going to put in an appearance. Or he had fallen asleep in Spanish and he was in Limbo or dreaming.

But by the time he pulled into his driveway, and seen no sign that this was anything but real, he felt like he was going to be sick.

"You... want to come in?" Kurt asked as Blaine climbed out of his car. "I mean... if you want?"

"Yeah, that'd be... Yeah," Blaine said. "Yeah."

It felt surreal, inviting Blaine into his house. For a long time even before he met Blaine he imagined what it would be like to invite a boy home, a boyfriend home. He wondered what his dad would say, what Carole would be like. He wondered how long it would be before he felt like he could bring anyone back...

"Nice place," Blaine said, bringing Kurt from his thoughts.

"Yeah, we moved here before the wedding. Bigger place for the four of us."

"Is anyone...?"

"Dad's probably still at the shop, I think Carole's got the day off, and we left Finn behind so—"

"Finn?"

"Yeah, we're step-brothers. Brothers. My dad, his mom. I never got to tell you that bit... before, did I?"

Blaine shook his head. They'd divided up the information they had about each other into "before" and "after". They said it stood for before and after they found out the other was real, making as little mention as possible about the events that prompted that realisation.

"Does he--?" Blaine asked.

"Know about you?" Kurt finished. "I... I don't know. I mean, I talked about you with Dad and Carole, I don't know what he picked up."

"I wonder what they're going to say... about me?"

"I have no idea," Kurt admitted. "What about your parents?"

Blaine shook his head. "They'd never have believed me."

"I can't imagine keeping anything from them. Not that I could; try living with a Picture and an Emotion. Nothing gets past them."

"My parents are Adepts, so... Cooper's an Adept-Projector. My brother," he added by way of explanation. "When I started my Emotion training it was... I'm the family freak."

"You're not a freak," Kurt said quickly, moving into Blaine's personal space. You know as well as I do it's not genetic. You had no control over what Skill you have, same as you can't help being—"

"Gay?"

"I was going to say wonderful," Kurt laughed, "but yeah. That too."

"That reminds me," Blaine whispered, "wasn't there a promise of a kiss?"

Kurt's heart stuttered in his chest as he realised how close they were standing. He caught Blaine's eye and held it, searching for any doubt, any hesitation, any idea that this was madness, total insanity, and there was no way they should be doing this having only met (properly) less than two hours ago.

Finding no such sign Kurt summoned every ounce of courage and he surged forward.

Blaine was caught a little off-guard and stumbled back, but he soon regained himself and as Kurt's arms wound around his neck he held onto Kurt's waist. It was unlike every kiss they'd had in Limbo; this was real in so many ways. He tried to process every sense of Kurt, everything he was.

After seconds, minutes, eternities, they pulled apart. Breathless in a way that Limbo never afforded them they grinned in a way they always did in Limbo.

"We're supposed to be going for coffee," Kurt whispered.

"Will... this, Lima Bean be open tomorrow?"

"Seven days a week, three hundred and sixty three days of the year."

"Then we can go another time," Blaine said, moving in for another kiss.

 

They moved to Kurt's room, talking and kissing and touching in a way that was honest and real and so different to how they'd both perceived it in Limbo. They put on a movie, curled up together with a comfort that was practiced. The only clue Kurt had that they'd slipped into Limbo was the sense of Blaine's feelings wrapping around him.

"I wanted to say it first, for real, not here," Kurt complained.

"You know you don't have to say it?"

"Dad complains about that all the time. Says any time he wants to make some grand gesture for Carole she's already ahead of the game. Works both ways, she can pick out all the surprises as soon as he's thought about them."

"Is that what you and I have to look forward to?" Blaine asked. "Dreaming of each other, with each other, for the rest of our lives?"

"Hopefully," Kurt grinned, kissing him gently. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"Why did you... That last night? Why the sudden change?"

Blaine sighed and Kurt felt the shift in his mood.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I—" Blaine started, then he froze and the room went cold. "There's someone in your room."

"What?"

"There's... someone here," Blaine said.

Kurt tried not to think about how this was the start to many horror movies, and he forced himself to wake up, turning over to see Carole standing in the doorway, arms folded.

"Downstairs when you have a minute?" she asked. Any hint that she was mad was betrayed by the grin on her face. She gave a small laugh before turning and walking away.

"Step-mom?"

"Yeah. We've been _summoned_ ," Kurt said. "Oh god, she saw us like this and Dad's going to see it as soon as she goes down and he's going to freak out."

"Is he--?"

"No, he's just... I don't think he wanted to have this conversation with me just yet," Kurt sighed. "Come on."

The walked down the stairs in silence, Blaine following Kurt into the kitchen. But was already seated, Carole placing a mug of something that Kurt hoped was soothing, calming and herbal in front of him.

"Nothing happened," Kurt opened with, "we just... fell asleep."

"Never said anything otherwise," Carole said.

"And I know it seems weird or fast or—"

"It's nice to meet you, Blaine," Burt interrupted. "I'm assuming you are Blaine? Otherwise you look a hell of a lot like the boy in his head."

"No, sir," Blaine said. "I'm Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

"I'm Burt, this is Carole, and that's your seat," Burt continued, gesturing to the one across from him. "Think there's some stuff we need to talk about."

"Dad—"

"All of us," Burt clarified. "Because even I know what happened with you two up here," he said, tapping his temple, "shouldn't happen. So before we call the Bureau I think we should work out what the hell is going on."

 

So they talked. At some point Carole got up, made dinner around them, then placed plates in front of them and made them eat. In between questions Kurt and Blaine talked about how they met, what they did (well, they skirted around some parts, and by the look on Burt's face when they did he was trying very hard not to see the image in his son's mind. Carole, however, just laughed), and how neither of them knew it was real, not at first.

They talked about how they were able to shape each other's Limbo, and how Kurt pushed so hard that last night that they never actually slept.

That got Carole's attention, and she immediately started quoting medical facts to them about people who have been trapped in Limbo and the damage it could do. Burt retorted that both boys seemed fine and that clearly this was something new.

"Old," Blaine corrected before he could stop himself. "I mean... When we realised I did some research. Dreamers, that's what they called... well, us, we were around centuries ago. But we..."

When he trailed off Kurt took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "People got scared, the way that people have always been scared," he explained. "And maybe rightly so. The idea that we could wander into anyone's Limbo—"

"Anyone's?" Burt asked. "Who else have you...?"

"No one," Kurt said, "but I just assumed... You think it's just us? That we're connected somehow?"

"I have no idea," Burt said. "Hopefully someone at the Bureau will. We'll go tomorrow morning."

"School—"

"Can wait," he continued. "Kids go there all the time for specialist training and advice, I'll call and say you have an appointment. We can make out like you're worried about not gettin' your Skill yet, if that's what's worrying you."

"No, it's just... It's fine."

"What about you?"

"I'll be there," Blaine said.

"And your parents?"

"They... they don't know about this," Blaine admitted. "My parents are Adepts, they didn't pick up on this like you did with Kurt, and I don't know how to tell them without them... freaking out. But I'll still come, tomorrow, if that's OK? I've not had my career interview with the Bureau yet, I'll just say it's that."

"You need to talk to your parents, Blaine," Carole said gently, putting a hand over Blaine's. She smiled when she felt the shock and grateful surprise roll off him. "They should know."

"I'll tell them, I promise. After we've been and we know what's going on."

"If you want us to be there—" Burt started, stopping when Blaine nodded. "OK then. We'll go tomorrow morning, see what's what. Then maybe you can invite your parents over for dinner, Blaine?"

"Meet the boyfriend's family?" Blaine said before he could stop himself. "I mean... that is..."

Burt's laugh stopped him short and Blaine looked over at Kurt in confusion.

"I don't poke around in Kurt's head as a rule," Burt explained, "but I can't ignore the fact that you're all he thinks about most of the time. So no surprise there. Just... work on your walls, OK? Because us Picture parents don't want all the details."

"Agreed," Kurt said quickly, looking over to Blaine and nodding quickly; once in agreement and then once in the direction of the door.

"And Blaine?" Burt continued as the two got to their feet. "It's really nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Blaine said. "Thank you."

Burt opened his mouth to say something, but his wife's hand on his knee stopped him. Once the two boys had left he turned to her, easily picking the image from her mind.

_He wasn't thanking you for tonight. He was thanking you for that night._

 

Once out in the hallway Kurt had intended to return to his room, but the buzzing noise of a cell phone stopped him.

"Mom," Blaine explained as he tapped out his reply. "Wants to know when I'll be home."

"Right."

"First day, think she wants to know how it went."

"Do you--?"

"I should," Blaine said. "Sorry."

"No, don't be. I mean... today? This afternoon? It was..."

"Yeah," Blaine whispered. "It was." He pressed his forehead against Kurt's and breathed in deeply. "I... I love you."

Kurt's grin came a second before his breathed reply of, "I love you too", and then they were kissing again. "So... I'll see you tonight?"

Blaine laughed softly and kissed Kurt, just once. "Try and stop me."

"Hey, you never said why you... before?"

"Oh. Yeah, um... can I tell you tonight? Just there's a lot to it and I really should get going."

"Yeah, of course."

"See you later," Blaine said, kissing Kurt goodbye before opening the front door.

"Sweet dreams," Kurt called after him in jest.


	4. Chapter 3

"A guy from the Bureau came before we moved," Blaine started that night. "He told Mom and Dad that it was because of what I did, they wanted to make sure that mentally I was OK. But when he was asking me about Limbo I just... I got this idea that he wasn't just asking me about what I did.

"In the end I think he got fed up of my half answers and so he asked me if there was anyone constant in my Limbo. He was a Picture-Emotion so I had no chance of hiding anything from him, and he just... He made sense, the way he talked about constructs and the way Limbo works. And he said 'even if this boy is real, how will he ever be real to you?' which made more sense than I wanted to admit.

"Up until today, until that moment you walked into the choir room, I honestly believed that even if you were real I'd never get to meet you. And he knew exactly how to do it, how to get me to think that you were unobtainable."

"It makes sense," Kurt said after a while. "I don't blame you."

"I'm sorry, I really am, I shouldn't have given up—"

"Don't." Kurt silenced him with a kiss and they lay for a moment, side by side. "It was the right thing to do."

"Really?"

"Really. Dad was right, I kept thinking about you and dreaming about you and I just..." He stopped and took a breath, trying to get his thoughts into place. "I don't know if I could have dreamt with you every night and never met you."

"Well, now we have both," Blaine grinned. "I-- What are you going to say in school?"

"What?"

"I just started there. Are we going to leap straight in to this relationship?"

"I—" Kurt started but then clamped his mouth shut. He thought for a moment before saying, "I don't think we need to do anything. We can just, y'know, be together. Hang out, sit next to each other in classes, that kind of thing. And at some point they'll notice."

"How soon?" Blaine asked. "I mean, are they—?"

"Finn and Brit, they're Emotions so maybe them first? I can speak to Finn, ask him not to say anything. Brit... well, you'll like her. She's... unique."

"Any Pictures?"

"Tina and Santana. Tina might not say anything, but if Santana gets anything then we could be in for a rocky ride." Kurt felt Blaine's emotions shift around him and he quickly put a soothing hand to his cheek. "Hard exterior, but I'm pretty sure there's a heart in there somewhere. Look, the glee club? We're a kind of family. We pull together when we need to and there isn't a single person in that room who's going to make it hard for us."

"And what about the people outside the room?" Blaine asked, instantly reminding Kurt of the jocks and their letterman jackets.

"That's... something we'll figure out."

~~

The Bureau was a large building on the main street in town, just like it was in every major town across the world. Cities would have several, smaller places would have a shared one. They were independent of government and relatively independent in themselves, but they shared as a hub, connecting everyone around the world.

The lobby was spacious, high walls and ceiling, marble floor, ornate desks and well-used chairs providing a waiting area. Burt motioned for Blaine and Kurt to take seats while he walked up to the desk to check them in.

Kurt stared at the floor plan ahead of them, noting the different departments the Lima Bureau covered, as well as a footnote detailing some of the different services available in Cincinnati. Blaine busied himself by looking through some of the leaflets, detailing signs of emerging Skills, and training courses available to help you manage them.

"What if they lock us up?" Kurt asked quietly.

"What?"

"What if they decide we're freaks, too dangerous to be out there? They could drug us, lock us up, do anything."

"Kurt—"

"What if they can't help us?"

"Kurt—"

"What if this is so new they have no idea what's going on? We could be studied, dissected. They could cut open our brains and—"

"We've not had to do that in years," announced an authoritative voice, making them both jump. "And anyway, as Skills don't develop at an identifiable genetic level, it was a waste of time. Jared Scott, if you would like to come with me?"

"That was quick," Kurt said as he looked from Jared to his dad.

"We've been expecting you," Jared replied, causing the boys to freeze in their tracks. "Not every day two Dreamers walk into your Bureau," he continued, walking towards the security door. "Usually one is a lifetime event. If we'd known you'd be here today we'd have gotten cake. Ice cream. Doughnuts. Instead we have coffee and day-old cookies, but they are homemade, my wife is a genius in the kitchen. We also have a lot of answers I think you two need. Shall we?"

Finding their feet again, Kurt and Blaine walked towards the door, closely followed by Burt.

 

The meeting room was cosy, bright walls and lounge chairs and a coffee table filled with magazines and kid's toys. There were no bars on the windows, no lock on the door as far as they could see, but still Blaine could sense Kurt's apprehension rolling off him in waves.

So could Jared apparently.

"Let me be clear on a few things," he began. "You are not under arrest, you are not in any trouble. There will be no detention, no experiments, no restrictions. You are not going to be studied or analysed or have anything done to you without your consent. You are free to leave at any time and we will not chase after you or your families, OK?"

Kurt managed a nod and the tension lessened a little.

"First things first. You are both Dreamers, but you already knew that," Jared said, looking at Blaine. "And you know a bit about the history?"

"They died out," Blaine said. "Or went into hiding."

"Hiding, mostly," Jared said. "When the Skill developed it... unnerved a lot of people. Limbo is us at our most vulnerable and the idea that someone could push their way in? The major governments agreed that it was a Skill that could be abused unless managed properly. They'd put programs in place when then Projector Skill manifested, so preparations were made for the Dreamers.

"Except people were a little less willing to accept someone who could just 'break into' their minds seemingly at will."

"They were persecuted," Kurt said quietly. "I'll be persecuted. I'm gay and a Dreamer and it's like there's a target painted on my back."

"Things are changing, Kurt," Jared said. "I remember a time when no one would have said they were gay for fear of reprisal. And while yes, it still happens, you're a lot safer now than you were fifty years ago. And Dreamers are heading in the same direction."

"How?" Kurt asked. "I mean, fifty years ago we knew there were gay people about. But no one knows about Dreamers."

"Right now Dreamers account for one in about every ten thousand people in the States. For some reason Australia has a higher rate, about one in every four thousand, but personally I think that's because they have stronger links with their indigenous heritage. And the numbers are only increasing.

"There are plans in place for people like you, and I'm certain that within your lifetime you will see a change in the world as we know it."

"But what about until then?" Blaine asked.

"We have special training courses, run here at the Bureau, for Dreamers like you. There are more like you than you'd think, you are very much not alone. I'd like you both to come, learn how to manage this Skill," Jared said. "We'll teach you how to avoid entering others' Limbos, and how to better protect your own." He looked at Kurt pointedly. "Although you could maybe skip that one."

"What? Why?" Kurt asked, sitting up a little straighter in his seat.

"Ever since your dad made that call to the Bureau we suspected we were dealing with Dreamers. So we've been keeping an eye on you, on both of you. Nothing invasive, I promise, but we needed to make sure that you were safe and not crashing around Limbos."

"You had a Dreamer keep an eye on them," Burt said. It was the first time he'd spoken since they'd arrived and his voice was firm, challenging.

"Yes," Jared admitted without hint of remorse. "We needed to be in place in case they ended up in the wrong place, or shaped Limbo into something they couldn't control."

"Wait, what?" Kurt asked.

"But Kurt? He kept us out," Jared continued. "The last night you two had together before Blaine moved up from Georgia? We couldn't get near them. He pushed us back, and we had two highly trained Dreamers on you guys."

"I did what?"

"You're strong, Kurt. High Skill level strong. Bureau level, if you want it."

"I..." Kurt started. The emotions washing over him were palpable and Blaine's hand reached out instinctively for Kurt's.

"Look, I know there's a lot to take in and I get this is a big deal. There really is no rush on this. Get your head around it, talk to your parents, Blaine," Jared added with a knowing look, "and we'll be here when you're ready. The Cincinnati Bureau have sent down their on-staff Dreamer for this, his name's William, lovely kid, and he'll be happy to answer any questions you have, day or night."

Jared passed over small business cards which just had William printed in small letters above a cell phone number. "I'm going to let you guys have a moment, I'll grab us some coffees and we can maybe talk some more?"

"Straight black," Burt ordered. "And thanks."

"No problem," Jared said as he left, closing the door to behind him.

"You OK?" Burt asked his son, who was still staring at the business card in his hand.

"I know my Skill."

"And then some apparently."

"I just... I didn't expect this."

"You OK? You wanna go? 'cause we can, Jared's on the level about that."

"Yeah, I know, Dad, but... I have all these questions about what's going on in my head and this William could answer them. I think I wanna talk to him."

"Me too," Blaine said. "If that's OK?"

"You two are calling the shots here," Burt said, "so whatever you want."

"Can we... can we get a minute?" Kurt ventured.

"Sure. I'll be right outside. Focusing on something else," Burt added before leaving.

"You OK?" Kurt asked when they were alone. "You've gone quiet."

"Just... trying to take it all in," Blaine said. "I never thought about other people's Limbos. It's only ever been you."

Kurt smiled and reached out for Blaine's hand. "He said it could happen, not that it would. And you heard him; I'm strong. I'll keep them out."

"If you're that strong you know you probably won't have a secondary Skill, right?"

"Thought did cross my mind."

"You OK with that? I mean, everyone at school—"

"There's always a couple of kids who don't develop until college," Kurt said. "One more way for me to stand out from the crowd won't make a difference. And so long as no one finds out—"

"So we have to lie to them?"

"I... don't think so. I mean, Jared had no problem telling us in front of Dad, and the way he was in the lobby I don't think it's some cloak-and-dagger secret. But I think maybe it's best if we don't? Beyond our families I mean."

"And there was me thinking being gay was the biggest secret I'd have to keep," Blaine said.

"There's more to this, I can tell."

"I just... What if we do end up in someone else's Limbo?"

"We get out, I suppose. Guess that's what William's going to teach us."

"What if someone does find out?" Blaine asked. "I can pass, people at school already know I'm an Emotion—"

"And I'm the freak who doesn't have a Skill," Kurt lied firmly.

Blaine said nothing. Kurt knew that Blaine would be feeling his unease; the fact he wouldn't meet Blaine's eye only confirmed it. But if Kurt could be strong then so could Blaine. He resolved to work on his Emotion skill, extend it to pick up those moods around him. As soon as someone was suspicious about Kurt then he would know about it.

 

What followed seemed strangely logical. They went to school, they had Skills lessons at the Bureau learning about walls and control. William taught them that if they focused on one thing as they moved into Limbo then that would shape where they ended up. They created Limbos on whims and shaped them around themselves, practicing their Skill and testing their limits.

William then tested their walls, failing every time to break down Kurt's. He had minor successes with Blaine, but every time Kurt tried he got through. In the end he promised, in the security of their shared Limbo, that he wouldn't push, if he felt the wall there then he wouldn't try.

As arranged Blaine's parents came over for dinner that first night. They were confused to begin with, but Kurt, Blaine and Burt were patient and detailed, explaining everything to the best of their ability. The fact that Kurt had been responsible for saving their son's life went a long way to not only proving it was true but also gaining his mom's support for their relationship. (Blaine's dad just pursed his lips, nodded, and said "whatever makes you happy". They took it as a start.)

School carried on, glee carried on. New Directions breezed through Sectionals and Regionals and New York City loomed on the horizon for Nationals.

 

And in two nights, everything changed.

 

The first had been normal enough. Friday night was date night, but due to various and unimportant events they had decided to stay at Kurt's, watch a movie, eat popcorn and curl up on the couch together. Slipping into Limbo together was their way of being together in a way that wouldn't have too many embarrassing consequences for anyone else.

They'd been making out for several minutes when Kurt's hand moved to Blaine's waist. His shirt had ridden up a little and so Kurt was rewarded with the feel of soft, smooth and toned skin under his fingertips.

Which made him stop.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"...Kissing you?" Blaine replied, trying to pick up where he left off.

"You know what I mean. Stop it."

"Stop... kissing you?"

"Blaine."

"I don't know—"

"Yes," Kurt said, his hand pressing firmly on Blaine's stomach, "you do."

"No, I..."

"I saw you at practice today, remember? Your shirt rode up a little, the comments about you showing skin... This doesn't feel like what I saw."

"Kurt—"

"I know we can control this, but I thought we agreed not to?"

"It's just that... I can't."

"Can't what?"

"Please..." Blaine whispered.

"Why are you hiding from me?" Kurt asked. "Do you think I won't like your body? Is that it?"

"No, it's just—"

"Then I don't understand why you would—"

" _Because I don't want to_ ," Blaine said forcefully.

Kurt felt like a wave hit him and he woke, with a start, as he tumbled from the couch to the floor. He managed to pull himself to his feet just as Blaine woke up.

"You pushed me out," Kurt said. 

"I didn't mean to," Blaine said. "Please, Kurt—"

"You got angry and you pushed me out and I don't understand why. Is this a body thing? Because I don't want to push you, I won't push you, but for what it's worth I think you're beautiful and I love you and—"

"It's not that," Blaine said. "Well, it is and it's not. I... can we go to your room?"

Kurt looked at the movie still playing on the TV and then up at the clock. They had about twenty minutes before anyone would be home and so he nodded.

In silence they walked up the stairs, Kurt's mind racing with all the possibilities of what might happen. He knew Blaine would be feeling his confusion and worry and so he tried to lace it with as much love as he could muster. Whatever this was, whatever was about to happen, clearly it was an issue for Blaine and he wanted his boyfriend to know that he wasn't going anywhere.

"So..." Blaine started as he shut the door behind him. "Today at practice, when my shirt got caught and lifted... Didn't you wonder why Finn stepped in to stop all the comments and catcalling?"

Kurt sat nervously on the edge of the bed before replying, "I just thought it was him shutting Santana down. She's great but when she gets going some of her comments can be quite cutting."

"He said afterwards that he could feel my... my fear just slamming through the room. I'm pretty sure Brit picked up on it too, I don't know how she couldn't have."

"Fear?"

"It's just... I was attacked, Kurt."

"I know that."

"Yeah."

It took Kurt a second to realise what Blaine was getting at and his mouth formed a small 'o' shape.

"It's not bad, I'm not like Frankenstein's monster or anything, it's just..."

"It's fine," Kurt finished when Blaine couldn't. "I get it. I'm sorry."

"No, I am," Blaine said. He dropped to his knees in front of Kurt and rested his hands on Kurt's legs. "I love you, and I'm not trying to hide, but—"

"It's fine," Kurt assured him, taking Blaine's face in his hands. "Whenever you're ready."

"I don't want you to freak out, that's all. There was some pretty major surgery involved." Blaine couldn't help but feel the well of emotions in response to that and he pulled Kurt down into an awkward hug. "I'm OK, I'm fine. No lasting damage, all good as new. Except for the scars."

"For the record I still think you're beautiful," Kurt muttered into Blaine's shoulder.

"I know," he laughed softly, allowing Kurt to pull back. "And one day."

"Whenever," Kurt replied, kissing Blaine gently. Then he sat up sharply. "You pushed me out."

"What?"

"Limbo. _You_ pushed _me_ out."

"I... Yeah, I did."

"Getting stronger," Kurt grinned.

"Bet I still can't keep you out."

"We can try if you want? See how much stronger you are?"

"Not tonight," Blaine said. "I just... not tonight."

"OK."

 

The second night was a week later. Blaine wasn't in Limbo on the Friday so Kurt fell asleep as normal. Saturday he was busy at the shop and Blaine had family commitments so he counted down the hours until Saturday night. When Blaine didn't show again. On Sunday morning he texted, texted again, then called. He left a voicemail and only had two minutes to be concerned before his phone rang.

"Blaine, I—"

Only it wasn't Blaine.

 

Jared and William were already at the house by the time Kurt arrived. He followed Blaine's mom quietly up the stairs, taking in all the information that they had.

On Saturday night Blaine had gone to bed and he'd just not woken up on Sunday. As far as they could tell he wasn't asleep, which meant that for whatever reason he was still in Limbo. William had been unable to get in and so, after trying everything else, their only other option was Kurt.

Kurt hadn't seen someone in Limbo before, but it looked like it had always been described to him. They don't look asleep, they just look like they have their eyes closed. There's no peace, no relaxation, just closed eyes and a still body.

He didn't wait to be invited, he just lay on the bed next to Blaine, closed his eyes, focused—

\---and _pushed_.

~~

The school corridor confused Kurt for a moment and he wondered if this was actually Blaine's Limbo he was in. He followed the noises coming from down the hallway and was led into the locker room.

"You freak," someone was saying. "How the hell are you here?"

"You think you can walk around putting people down?" Blaine's voice carried. "Picking on Kurt because he's different?"

"Not different, a freak of nature. Like you. This is my Limbo, how are you here?"

"I—"

"That's got you scared," the voice continued.

As Kurt rounded the corner he saw one of the many jocks whose life it was to make his hell. He remembered on Friday one of them – this one – "accidentally" knocking him into his locker.

"Want me to leave your boyfriend alone? Fine. I will. Because now I'm going to find out how you got in here and then everyone is going to know who's the real freak of McKinley."

And then, without warning, the scene whited out and Kurt found himself stood in the school corridor again, only this time with Blaine beside him.

"Blaine, what's going on?" Kurt asked.

But Blaine ignored him, and walked down the corridor towards the locker room. Kurt followed, calling after him, but Blaine either couldn't hear him or didn't want to respond.

"Leave Kurt alone," Blaine demanded as he entered the locker room.

"What the hell?" the jock responded.

"Leave him alone or I'm going to make things really unpleasant for you."

Around him Kurt could feel the Limbo ripple as if it were trying to change or shift around him, but nothing was happening. He looked over at Blaine who was clearly noticing it too – and he was worried.

"What the hell are you doing here? How the hell are you here?" the jock challenged. "My Limbo, my constructs, and as if I'd let you in here."

"I— It's not supposed to be like this," Blaine said.

"You're telling me," the jock replied.

"No, I'm stronger than this," Blaine muttered, almost to himself. He seemed to concentrate and Kurt felt the ripple again, but this time it was less than before.

"You freak," the jock said. "How the hell are you here?"

"You think you can walk around putting people down?" Blaine challenged again and Kurt realised that this scene was on a loop.

"Blaine," he interrupted, reaching out and grabbing his arm. He didn't respond. "Blaine, can you hear me?"

"Picking on Kurt because he's different?" Blaine continued without disruption.

"OK, this needs to stop," Kurt said and he concentrated himself. Within seconds it had whited out and they were stood in the corridor again. "Oh no," he muttered as Blaine walked away from him. On instinct he _pulled_ and Blaine stopped short in the hallway. "Blaine?"

"I'm sorry," he said, not turning around. "I didn't mean to..."

"You were in his Limbo?"

"Friday night. I couldn't help thinking about him, I know what William said... and he knows, Kurt. He knows I'm wrong and weird and he's going to find out about me."

"Blaine—"

"I can't. I can't go through this again. I can't be at a school where—"

Kurt pulled harder and Blaine stopped. "You're not. We're going to sort this."

"How?" Blaine asked, his shoulders sagging and his head dropping. Kurt could feel Blaine's emotions bouncing off the walls in this Limbo and he knew how devastated he was.

"Because we are," Kurt said forcefully. "But first you need to sleep."

"No," Blaine said, turning around. "If I sleep I'll wake up and if I wake up he'll find me and get me and—"

"You need to sleep," Kurt said, this time feeling around the edges of Limbo.

"No. Don't make me—"

"I have to."

"You can't."

"Blaine—"

"I don't want you here," Blaine said, "leave me alone. You promised you'd never push against my walls and—"

"I'm sorry," Kurt said. He felt Blaine push against him, stronger than he'd been the first time   
they'd tried this, but still not strong enough and Kurt wasn't being caught off guard. Blaine was strong but Kurt was stronger and he pulled at the edges of the Limbo Blaine had trapped himself in. "You have to sleep."

"Please—"

"I'm not going anywhere," he said as he felt Blaine push harder and harder against him.

"If I stay here he can't get me," Blaine pleaded. "They have strong Pictures on the team, they'll find out about you. Please, Kurt, I can't—"

"It's going to be fine," Kurt tried to reassure Blaine, but his panic was filling Limbo and giving   
him an edge.

"No," Blaine said sharply, and there it was – the strong push that last week had ejected Kurt from their shared Limbo. But this time Kurt was ready and he pushed back. "I'm doing this for you," Blaine pleaded.

"So am I," Kurt replied and he closed the gap between them, sealing his lips over Blaine's.

The kiss distracted Blaine long enough that Kurt was able to pull the final ties on Limbo for Blaine and he slowly drifted into sleep.

And Kurt woke.

~~

The story that Blaine trapped himself in a painful Limbo was enough to placate his parents who were just relieved that he was finally sleeping and would wake naturally when he was ready. Jared, however, eyed Kurt with suspicion as he sensed not everything was as Kurt said. Without any evidence, and not wanting to cause a scene, he left with William, promising to return tomorrow to speak to Blaine.

Kurt knew that he'd have his own conversation in due course.

For now he played the dutiful boyfriend, staying by Blaine's side as he slept. Laptop on knee, Kurt opened a browser and logged into Facebook, grateful that Finn was never one for complicated or difficult-to-guess passwords. The jock he'd seen in the Limbo was on Finn's friends list and several shared groups for the team, so it was easy to find him. Usual posed picture in his uniform for the profile picture, next to the slightly arrogant name of Jason "the crusher" Greggson.

"Thank god for people's incessant need to chronicle their day," Kurt said as he found a wall filled with almost half hourly updates.

_Getting coffee!_

_Hanging with my girls_ which was attached to a photo of what looked like half the cheerleading squad.

_Best dinner ever!_

Keeping the tab open Kurt kept himself entertained, browsing fashion websites and catching up on trashy celebrity gossip until the one update he'd been waiting on came.

_Time for sleep. See you all in school tomorrow!_

Closing the laptop Kurt settled on the bed, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

~~

"First one now the other?" Jason exclaimed as he rounded the lockers. "What is it with you freaks?"

"I don't understand," Kurt replied calmly.

"First your boyfriend, now you in my Limbo? What gives? Do all gays have some secret Skill?"

"If you feel I should be punished," Kurt managed to say, trying to keep his reaction calm.

"...What?"

"Do you want to hurt me? Is that what you want?"

"I want you out of my head, that's what I want."

"I don't understand," Kurt managed to repeat. "I thought you were going to... Isn't that why I'm here?"

Under his skin Kurt felt like there were millions of colonies of fire ants, prickling at him and making him want to scream and claw away at them. But if they were to be safe then he needed to do this. Jason wasn't stupid (despite what stereotypes may hold about football players) and if he suspected that there was something up with Blaine then he would poke and prod until he found out what. And from what Kurt saw in Blaine's mind he couldn't handle that right now.

"Isn't it?" Kurt asked when Jason didn't reply.

"Why are you here?" Jason asked.

"Because you brought me here," Kurt replied, doing his best to look confused.

"No I don't."

"Then why am I here?"

"You're the one in my Limbo. What? I made you? Constructed you? Why would I-- I don't want you here."

So Kurt pushed and he wrapped the Limbo around him. Still here, but Jason couldn't see him.

"I... what?" Jason stammered, trying to process what was going on. "So I can what? Make you come and go at will? Bring you back?"

Kurt pushed again and stood once more by the lockers. "Do you want to hurt me?" he asked.

"This is too weird," Jason sighed.

"Locker slams not enough anymore? You want to do something else? Something permanent?"

"Look, Kurt—" Jason seemed to falter as he tried to make sense of it all in his head. "It's just a few shoves—"

"Today. But this is more than that, isn't it?" Kurt asked, gesturing the locker room. "Why else would you trap me here? What? Going to beat me up? Toss me in the dumpster?"

"No, I—"

"Just get it over with, whatever you're thinking," Kurt said carefully. "Whatever stupid thought is going through your head, whatever idea is sitting there... Just do it."

That seemed to register with Jason and Kurt felt Limbo rock around them. "I'm not that kind of guy, no way. Only way I'm gonna knock someone around or do damage is on the field and I'm always in the rules. Got a clean sheet too."

"I don't understand—"

"It's the team, it's just... Look, I'm sorry."

This was more than Kurt bargained for and so his hesitation was real. "What?"

"I don't wanna be that guy, OK? My dad was that guy, in and out of jail all the time. I'm not him. I don't wanna be him."

"But you—"

"No," Jason said, but this time more to himself.

Kurt felt Limbo ripple around him and realised that Jason was moving it, or coming out of it.

So he woke.

~~

It had taken a lot of coaxing and promises that it was OK for Blaine to come with Kurt to school on Monday. He looked terrified, as if any minute now Jason would come barrelling down the corridor with his teammates, yelling accusations of being freaks at them both.

Finn agreed to stay with them, run interference if need be and that seemed to calm Blaine down a little, but as soon as they rounded the corner and saw Jason waiting by their locker bank, Kurt didn't need to be an Emotion to know what Blaine was feeling.

"It's OK," Finn said. "He's... wow. He's sorry."

"What?" Blaine asked. "No, you're reading him wrong."

"Hey," Jason called out, interrupting them. "Look, I'm not causing hassle," he continued, holding up his hands in surrender. "I just wanna say... I'm sorry, OK? And I know it's not much and I know it probably don't mean anything to you guys, but I am. And it stops now, OK? You have my word. Me and the guys, we'll back off, and the ones who don't we'll keep in line. With a bit of help if that's cool?" he added, looking up at Finn.

"Yeah, sure, been trying to do that for months."

"Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry I've not been supportive It's just... I never thought much about it, you know? Everyone gets a few shoves and that, I didn't think it meant anything."

"So what changed?" Kurt asked.

"Let's just say I had an interesting weekend," Jason replied in what would have been a cryptic manner. "And I'm not going to turn out like my old man."

"Right," Blaine said. "So that's it? No more...?"

"No more," Jason affirmed. "You have my word. Not that it won't mean much to you, but Finn'll back me on this."

"He means it," Finn said. "And I'm not just saying that as his teammate."

"Friggin' Emotions," Jason scoffed. "But I do mean it. And I am sorry."

And with that he turned and walked away.

"I don't get it," Blaine said. "Friday night he was—"

"It doesn't matter," Kurt cut him off, mindful of the fact the hallway was filling up. "He doesn't know anything."

Blaine opened his mouth to retort, then he sensed it. "What did you do?"

"Later," Kurt smiled. "Come on."

 

"Mr Scott?"

Jared looked up across the class and found the raised hand before responding. "Yes?"

Kurt looked round as Sugar pushed back her chair and got to her feet. "Oh god, she's about to make a speech," he whispered. Beside him Blaine tried not to giggle and schooled his expression, keeping his eyes forward and on the desk at the front. "We should have warned Jared," Kurt added as he turned back around.

"You know how you said we've not always had these Skills," Sugar started, "and we had Skills in the past that died out."

"Yes?" Jared replied patiently. His eyes flicked to Kurt and Blaine for a second and they would swear for the rest of their lives that there was a hint of a smile there.

"Could one of them come back?" Sugar asked.

"What makes you say that...?"

"Sugar. Sugar Motta," she grinned. "See my daddy works with a lot of VIPs, that's Very Important People," she helpfully explained, "many of who are big in government. And he said that they were talking about an old Skill?"

"Which one?" Jared asked.

By now Blaine and Kurt were all but frozen in their seats.

"Dreaming?" Sugar didn't sound too sure about it and she looked at Jared for confirmation.

"I think you mean Dreamers," he corrected, motioning she should take a seat. "Yes, there are old Skills. And who knows if they'll come back? The whole point of our Skills is to aid us in our lives and so if people develop those Skills then it's because they were meant to.

"And once upon a time Dreamers had the most in-demand Skill of all. They were able to help those trapped in their own minds, find people who were lost even to the Pictures. Give them a thought to focus on and they'll find you the person you want, even if it's locked inside your own mind.

"I think there's still the occasional mention of them in some dusty old textbooks, but you'll find references in places you never quite expected."

"Like where?" Kurt asked, trying to sound curious rather than desperate.

"Well, how do you think Prince Charming knew Sleeping Beauty was in that castle, surrounded by all those thorns? He knew the person he was destined for was out there because he'd dreamt with her. He'd used his Skill to find all the information he needed to find her and save her."

"I don't remember reading that version," Puck scoffed.

"That would require you reading," came the cat-call response.

Under the desk Blaine's hand found Kurt's, and for the rest of their Skills lesson that's where it remained.

This was just the start.


End file.
